Frames of a city: Inside Bollywood’s living archive at NGMA

At the National Gallery of Modern Art, the exhibition reveals itself gently. The first wall greets you with a young Esha Deol alongside Hema Malini—a frame that feels less like display and more like invitation. Step further in, and the space unfolds into something more than a photo exhibition. Across two floors, images gather like memory—candid moments, studio portraits, ageing film posters—each carrying the texture of a time that still lingers in the city’s imagination.

All you need to know about Lens and Legacy: Bollywood in Focus

What follows is less a linear journey and more a quiet layering of eras. Lens and Legacy: Bollywood in Focus brings together works by photographers such as Pradeep Chandra, Shantanu Das, Sudharak Olwe and Bandeep Singh, alongside an archival section curated by SMM Ausaja with contributions from Neha Kamat. Some fragments trace back to a pre-1947 past—when cinema and storytelling moved across a shared, undivided cultural landscape—while others sit firmly in the present. Together, they form a living archive, punctuated by tribute walls to Dharmendra and Asha Bhosle, reminding you that in Mumbai, cinema has never been separate from the city—it is one of the ways the city remembers itself. In conversation with Indulge Express, the photographers and archivist reflect on memory, craft, and the evolving legacy of Indian cinema.

Framing context, not just subjects

Olwe says, “What you see as a structure changes completely when you add context to it—that’s when it becomes documentation. That’s where documentary photography begins. In this exhibition, you see very different kinds of images—portraits of Asha Bhosle, a young Vidya Balan, Suniel Shetty, and even something like the ‘Wisdom Tree’ at FTII. But for me, they are not separate subjects—they are all part of a larger narrative. Documentary photography is where storytelling and visuals go hand in hand. It’s not just about what you see, but how you place it, how you frame it, and what it begins to say over time.”

An unseen moment with legends

Chandra recalls, “There have been many such images that never made it to the public eye, but one stays with me. At VT station, I saw a crowd and realised Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu were inside a train. I started shooting when he stopped me and said, ‘Aap log photo kheenchte hain, par dete toh nahin.’ I told him I was shooting for a newspaper, and even if I wanted to share the picture, it wasn’t easy to meet him. He smiled and said, ‘Aap aisa kariye, tara ko screen mein de dijiyega.’ I shot 10–15 frames and left—but that image has never been seen or published to this day.”

Learning to see through the lens

He adds, “I met Raghu Rai in the early ’70s in Delhi. Like many, I admire his work, but what influenced me deeply was his use of the wide-angle lens. At the time, he was among the few using 28/24 mm lenses. Another thing I learnt was to compose the frame in-camera—so you don’t have to crop. I’ve had disagreements with editors on this, but that approach stayed with me.”

Archiving cinema as ‘sadhana’

Ausaja reflects, “Building an archive is like a ‘sadhana’. Over more than two decades, I’ve acquired many gems that may not exist anywhere else, so it’s difficult to single out just one. There’s the hall ticket of Raja Harishchandra, and original first-release posters of films like Guide and Pyaasa—each carrying its own history. For me, archiving is essential to preserving cinema heritage. Those of us doing this are driven by passion, but it needs larger support. The film fraternity must come together, and corporates should step in through CSR to sustain this effort.”

What: Lens and Legacy: Bollywood in Focus
Where: NGMA, Mahatma Gandhi Road
When: Till June 30, 2026

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