For most of her career, the Mumbai-based photographer Ketaki Sheth has worked with analogue cameras and shot predominately in black and white. Her new book, Flashback (published by PHOTOINK in March 2026), has images of the Mumbai and Chennai film industries, selected from her large archive of black-and-white photographs taken between 1985 and 1993. The images, in Sheth’s intimate, candid style, capture unposed moments as they naturally unfolded. The perspective is unobtrusive, observational.
Sheth was mentored early in her career by the photographer Raghubir Singh, who took her to the studios of American photography masters like Lee Friedlander, William Gedney, and William Christenberry. Singh also introduced her to the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson, whose photography was based on the idea of the decisive moment: he believed that in the fleeting seconds of the click of the shutter, diverse elements can come together to reveal meaning in the everyday moments of life. Sheth has spoken of the impact of Cartier-Bresson on her work, describing how, to capture the decisive moment, the photographer’s heart, mind, and eye need to work in sync. Sheth also believes that a good image should be a combination of four elements: light, form, timing, and luck.
The images in Flashback reveal a world normally hidden from view. They capture moments of rest, an actor’s preparation before a take, and the junior artistes and large teams involved in creating movies. Using a 35 mm lens, she was able to get really close to the stars, something that would be very difficult today.
Ketaki Sheth’s first work in colour resulted in the book Photo Studio, published by PHOTOINK in 2018. | Photo Credit: FARROKH CHOTHIA
We experience this intimacy in the image of Jackie Shroff on the sets of Akayla, for instance. A mirror with the photographer’s reflection in it obscures Shroff’s face, and we see disembodied hands readying him for the shot. It feels like a fleeting moment seized by the photographer, and we feel lucky to get such a glimpse.
In the images of filmstars in their homes, there is again a sense of the photographer as the fly on the wall. Sheth captures them in moments of quiet reverie. They do not seem to be conscious of the presence of the camera—an effect that is often hard to achieve.
Neelam sits comfortably on her sofa, adjusting her hair, laughing with the photographer, who is reflected in the mirror. Chunky Pandey lies on a bed with a wall full of posters of himself in the background and his clothes folded neatly by his bed. A weary-looking Sunny Deol is photographed in his jogging attire with his dog. Sheth is evidently able to put her subjects at ease and capture off-guard moments: the resulting images allow the viewer to feel close to the subjects.
Some of my favourite images are those that reveal the life backstage, away from the glitz and glamour of the final film. A crew member holding an umbrella is present in many of the images, speaking of the reality of the heat and the sun’s glare on sets. There is an amazing image capturing the shooting of a romantic scene with Rita Bhaduri from the film Ghar Mein Ram Gali Mein Shyam. Sheth shows the crowded set surrounding the actors enacting the intimate moment we will finally view on screen.
Jackie Shroff on the set of Akayla, Film City, Bombay, c.1991. | Photo Credit: Ketaki Sheth & PHOTOINK
The image of Sharmilee on a movie set also shows how close the public were to the stars while they were shooting. Children crouch on the ground to peep at the dancer doing her routine. The photographer’s choice to pull back and see the scene from others’ perspectives adds layers to the image.
In an email interview, I discussed questions of style and more with Sheth. Edited excerpts:
What was your role on the set of Thevar Magan (a Tamil action drama from 1992 written and produced by Kamal Haasan)? Were you the official stills photographer?
I had no official role in Thevar Magan. I was not attached to any magazine. I wrote to Kamal Haasan saying I was a freelance photographer and I had been photographing sets in Bombay. He generously allowed me to visit his set and take pictures. On his set, I met others, who took me to sets in Madras. In those days people had time. There… was also a willingness to help and get publicity for their films.
What sparked your interest in films as subject matter?
My interest started in the 1980s when Khalid Mohamed, film critic and later editor of Filmfare, invited me to accompany him while he visited the stars. (In the early 1980s, I was an intern at The Times of India, where I met Khalid). In 1985, I had returned from a one-year programme in photography at the NYU [New York University]. I was very young and trying to refine my newly learned skills as a photographer. Khalid’s invitation to accompany him [gave me the opportunity] to mould my skills and and expand my [vision].
What made you decide to use black-and- white and not colour film?
I had never used colour. I continued my work as an analogue, black-and-white photographer for over 30 years till film and and chemicals became hard to source and I moved to digital. My first work in colour is from 2014–18. It resulted in the book Photo Studio, published by PHOTOINK in 2018.
Rajinikanth on the set of Annaamalai, 1992. | Photo Credit: Ketaki Sheth & PHOTOINK
Your subjects seem very relaxed in your images. How were you able to capture these moments?
I was lucky to be with Khalid. He was respected by the stars and directors. While he was interviewing them at length, I got the chance to be bit of a fly on the wall and wander around, capturing the crew and technicians and the ambience of the sets. I was young, energetic, and enjoying the experience of entering a new world.
What percentage of this body of work has been used in the book?
The exhibition “Flashback” (February 3 to March 28, 2026) had 33 images. The book by the same title has 55.
You have used a flash, perhaps an on-camera flash, for some of the images. Was there any particular reason behind this?
I used a flash where I needed details or where the set was inadequately lit. Lights were so expensive, as was time on the sets, that I couldn’t ask for lights to be switched on for me. It was constant innovation and learning and determination. In those days, I printed my own works in a darkroom at home.
Amitabh Bachchan and Amrita Singh on the set of Akayla, Andheri, Bombay, 1991. | Photo Credit: Ketaki Sheth & PHOTOINK
Were the images meant for film magazines? Did any of them appear in print?
I did no film stories for magazines or newspapers. Khalid remembers a Singapore airline magazine carrying my pictures with his essay. But we no longer have copies of this magazine.
I was simply honing my skills. Except for a few images like those of Rekha, Meenakshi [Seshadri], Yash Chopra, Shatrughan [Sinha], I never published any. Forty years later, Devika [Daulet-Singh] my gallerist [at PHOTOINK] made me dig into my archives. After months of scanning and looking and editing, we found a full body of work.
What are you working on at present?
There are new projects I am currently working on. It’s too early to say where they will take me. One is a body of 15 years (in colour), which I will continue to work on till I am fully satisfied. It is located in a village I call my home. The other is a new work I have to build on.
If there was a dream project you would like to work on, what would it be?
Can’t say. But it may be portraits in colour.
Clare Arni is a photographer based in Bengaluru. Her work encompasses social documentary and cultural heritage.
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