Actor Randeep Hooda Finds Solace Behind the Lens: How Photography Became His Passion and Creative Outlet

For actor Randeep Hooda, photography has been a passion for years. It’s an excuse to head to the jungles which he loves to the core. On World Photography Day today, which falls ahead of his 50th birthday, the actor sums it up, “I am more comfortable behind a still camera than I am in front of a still camera.”

The actor, who won the Best Debut Director at the National Film Awards for his film Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, confesses that his passion helped him on both personal and professional fronts.

“The camera helped me a lot in my direction. The compositions which I experimented with my still camera helped me a lot in framing the film shots. From how to bring attention to a certain part of the frame and how to make an aesthetic frame, all that made my choices a bit easier,” he says but credits his director of photography Arvind Krishna as well.

“So with my sense of framing and his expertise, I was able to capture my movie well. Most actors when they become directors, they're directing other things and not the frames. When I became a director, I already knew that I had experimented with a lot of frames. And, it all started with a still camera.”

Randeep’s love for photography started with humble camera phones and then he started admiring photos in magazines and on Instagram.

“Without the camera, I used to go to jungles and enjoy the beauty. Then I bought a camera but so many buttons on it that it discouraged me from even using it. So, I started experimenting from my balcony in Mumbai.”

His turning point was connecting with wildlife photographer Sarosh Lodhi whom he admired.

“So, we interacted on Instagram messages and he said, well why don’t you come to Nagpur and we'll go to Kanha National Park (Madhya Pradesh), and I'll show you how to use it. That just happened at about 9pm and at 6am I was at Nagpur airport with a couple of friends, and that’s how it all began. There, I saw my first tiger Chota Munna and I got great pictures in my first 2-3 outings, and then I was hooked. Then, the camera became a very big excuse to be in the jungle.”

The actor says that with a mobile in every hand, “photography has become more democratic.”

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He says, “It is not just for the privileged few which is a very good thing. Everybody gets to capture what they like, but also the value of the photographs has become lesser because it's so readily available to everybody. The reverence of that one superbly framed shot has become lesser because you have the option to click multiple pix.”

Personally, he likes clicking less and framing more. “I enjoy it most in the wild. I am absolutely not a tiger crazy that a lot of people are. I like landscapes, all different birds, all kinds of animals and its setting. I don’t try to go too close for portrait shots and try to capture the habitat with it,” he says.

These days, however, Randeep’s primary focus behind the lens is much closer to home: his daughter Nyomica, born in March this year.

“I photograph my ba It's like keeping photos for her to see later. A lot with my parents as well, so that, when she grows up and in case they're not around, she can see how much they loved her. In that sense, I do that a lot and also just to document her. I don't know, it will take a long time for her to appreciate all that I guess. My wife (Lin Laishram) is also very participative and we are always screening pictures.”

Your favourite shot to click away: Jungle and shooting in the wildlife.

In city limits: I don’t have the liberty to move around clicking.

Favourite shot: Many, but my initial few shots with the camera are very close to me.

Tigers or birds?: I'm not a tiger-crazy, instead like capturing animals and birds from a distance in their habitat.

A photo contest next?: No, art is very subjective and it's a personal thing. I sometimes share on my Instagram.”