Aparna Jayakumar Perfectly Captures The Quintessential ‘Bengali Babu’

‘He dresses like it’s still the ‘50s, complete with a plain shirt, pleated trousers, sweater-vest, an over-sized pair of spectacles and an inimitable hair-do. He likes to eat rice and fish curry and baigoon bhaja (fried eggplant) for lunch, always with a mishti (sweet) to finish the meal. He likes to engage in long-winded discussions about history and politics, read great literature and poetry, and smoke numerous cigarettes. There will invariably be a very sombre portrait of Rabindranath Tagore hanging on a prominent wall in his house.’

Mumbai-based photographer Aparna Jayakumar describes herself as someone who loves to shoot all kinds of things, with a soft spot for capturing people on the street, and their stories. Citing the likes of Raghubir Singh, Woody Allen, Wong Kar-Wai and Iranian cinema as her greatest artistic influences, she has also dabbled in the themes of culture, gender and sexuality, migration and anthropological studies of communities through her work.

When she was in Calcutta, she found herself drawn to these middle-aged, office-going Bengali men, each of whom seemed to have a unique character. “I especially loved the way they are represented in the works of graphic novelist Sarnath Banerjee. I loved their style and found them inspiring to photograph,” she tells Homegrown.

And thus, she took to the streets of Calcutta to accost these personalities in the midst of their perpetual rush. She tells us briefly about the experience and her series ‘Babumoshai’.

HG: Who are your favourite fictional and non-fictional Bengali babus that you’ve come across?
AJ: “I can’t pick! Each one is unique.”

HG: What was the most interesting part of doing this photo series for you?

AJ: “Casting the right characters and setting them against the right backdrop. The streets of Calcutta have lovely textures and colours, so there was a lot to choose from. But I had to be very quick! Most of these portraits were made in under 5 minutes. Anything more indulgent and I ran the risk of losing my subjects, as they were all rushing off somewhere -- either to work or home from work.”

HG: What was interacting with the prospective subjects like?

AJ: “Some of them were too shy to pose for me and quickly walked away, others were reluctant but accepted with some convincing, some were only too delighted and curious to know all about me!”

HG: What are other such quintessential characters, that you’d like to profile, given a choice?

AJ: “The best thing about this project is that I can’t plan anything. Most of the characters came to me as surprises. But if I had a choice, I’d like to find the perfect Bengali intellectual. And a detective.”

See the rest her series ‘Babumoshai’ and more of her work here.