Jagdish Mali
This is a collection of newspaper articles selected for the excellence of their content. |
Meena Iyer, The Times of India | May 14,
VICKEY LALWANI, Mumbai Mirror | May 14, 2013
In his four-decade-long career, Jagi had a wide and illustrious portfolio. His father was an artiste and Jagi, who grew up in the middle-class bylanes of Bandra East, started his life shooting unusually sharp pictures of everyday life. Fate, of course, had other plans. Celebrities sought him out and got him to shoot their pictures because his camera often spoke more eloquently than he did.
Fastidious and moody like most artistes, Jagi would only shoot when he was inspired. While one will have to publish a tome to show his entire life's work, the image that comes to mind as Jagi's trademark shot is the black and white photograph of Aamir Khan's Ghulam poster that shows the actor packing a punch, showing off a ring on each finger.
Amitabh Bachchan, Sachin Tendulkar, Shah Rukh Khan, Rekha and Emraan Hashmi — Jagi has done justice to each of these people, capturing them like no other photographer could. He had a fan following amongst his colleagues like Gautam Rajadhyaksha, Ashok Salian, Rakesh Shrestha and Jayesh Sheth because they could never fathom 'the language Jagi's camera spoke'.
"Mali Sir's pictures of Rekha, Jackie Shroff and Pooja Bhatt were really special. I shall never forget a picture of Jackie leaning against a brick wall. His work was far better when he shot on locations rather than when he confined himself to a studio," said fashion photographer Dabboo Ratnani
Among the many celebrities Mali has photographed include Rekha, Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukerji, Dimple Kapadia and others. He had also worked on advertisement campaigns and fashion brochures for various brands.
Personally, he was a happy-go-lucky guy who dressed nattily — wore a ponytail, earring, beard and capris on most occasions. But his uncherished dream was to publish a book that would capture the past and present generation of Bollywood stars — like Rishi Kapoor and Ranbir — remains unfulfilled.
Celebrated lensman Jagdish Mali, who was known by the less-informed only for his portraits on Rekha, passed away at noon on May 13, 2013. He was in his 60s. Jagi lost his battle with life after he suffered a fall and was admitted to Mumbai's Nanavati Hospital.
A couple of months before his death, the photographer was put in an embarrassing spot when a segment of the media reported that he was going through bad days. Fortunately, in his lifetime, he managed to regain some of his lost glory in print.
TOI had reported how the ace photographer was discovered on the streets in Versova in a dishevelled and confused state. Actress Mink Brar had spotted him and with Salman Khan's help she got him back to his apartment. A day later, talking about his father's health, Antara Mali said: "My dad's condition is such that at times, if he forgets his insulin shot, he gets disoriented. At such times opening a simple door latch can be a challenge. This may happen once in six months, the rest of the time he's fully functioning and normal. He is suffering from a chronic liver disorder and heavy diabetes."
