When two pilots and a chef get invited to click photographs of high profile weddings in the Bahamas, Los Angeles, Grand Canyon, Memphis and other parts of the world, then you know they must be doing something right.
Pilots Pulkeshin K Tiwary and Anjay Thakur and Chef Rahul M Kumar, take out time from their busy schedules to give their passion a “shot”. And not just weddings and portfolios, today North Water Star is India’s leading wedding and EDM photography brand. They share their story...
A photograph shot in the Bahamas by North Water Star
A student of Joseph’s who went to complete his major in Bachelors in aviation business administration and minor course in flight operations from the US, Bengaluru boy Pulkeshin shares how he got clicking, “I had some free time so I got involved with music at a radio station. I learnt the nuances of becoming an RJ and loved mixing tracks. Around the same time, one of my friends (Manu) wanted us to capture the NASA Space Shuttle Light Trail and bought a Nikon D90 and both of us got hooked onto photography. We went to Fort Jefferson Island and clicked stunning pictures. That was my ‘Love-at-first-sight’ moment, from where I went on to capture portraits of university friends. This converted to a wedding shoot gig with artist Sabrina Price from Bengaluru followed by architect Anshul Chodha and Shuba Dharmana’s wedding and then over 100 weddings after that. Although flying is my first love, photography takes me to another high. I made friends with another pilot friend Behram Siganporia while flying in the US, when he would strum his guitar and I would click his photos. Both of us carried our hobbies forward and soon after clicking for Behram, I was officially signed up for shooting Above & Beyond, Deadmau5, Armin Van Buuren, Tiesto, Afrojack, top 50 EDM DJs and fests Sunburn, Supersonic, Ultra Music and Submerge alongside my flying profession. We’ve also shot for Jitu Virwani, JSM Corporation and Siddharth Mangharam, but my most memorable meeting will be with the first man who landed on the moon: Neil Armstrong and Steve Jobs.”
Owing his success to Sheelaa M Bajaj, he adds, “North Water Star was born thanks to Sheelaa M Bajaj, a famous numerologist. She asked me to change my name and it worked so I went back to her for our photography brand name and that’s how North Water Star (northwaterstar.com) was born. We went places after that.”
Pulkeshin, a cargo pilot with Blue Dart-DHL who moonlights as a photographer met Anjay Thakur through family members, proclaims to be one of the first to reinvent wedding photography. Capt. Anjay, an Airbus type rated pilot who did his flight training has also had an adventurous innings.
Left to right: Rahul M Kumar, Pulkeshin K Tiwary and Anjay Thakur
“Shooting with Amitabh Bachchan was a dream come true. When he came on the set in Bangkok, he looked at me and was surprised as I was taller than him (he’s 6.2 and I’m 6.5) asked me to play his body double. It is always fun working with Bollywood stars, but Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Vivek Oberoi, Arjun Rampal and John Abraham will be some of my favourites,” shares Anjay.
The third musketeer Rahul Kumar quit his IT job to venture into the food business. Rahul chips in saying, “I started a restaurant called The Moody Chef in HSR Layout as I always had an inclination towards food photography, which remains my forte. It’s been a fun joy ride globetrotting and shooting with North Water Star. My other passions include driving sports cars through the desert valley of California and tasting the best of wines. My dream is to be the best cinematographer and photographer.”
