When famous faces got clicked by the same man!

Film personalities Jaya Bachchan, Padmini Kolhapure, Hema Malini, Kajol, Rekha, Sooraj Barjatya and Khayyam, among others came together under one roof recently to celebrate the launch of ace lensman Gautam Rajadhyksha's Marathi coffee table book Chehre (Faces) in Mumbai.

Melody queen Lata Mangeshkar was on hand to release the book.

Speaking of famous faces, Rekha and Jaya Bachchan came face to face at the event. The two exchanged pleasantries before moving on to greet other guests.

Lata Mangeshkar who counts photography as one of her hobbies says she considered herself to be a good photographer till the time she met the ace lensman.

"I purchased a rolleiflex camera in 1946 and took a lot of pictures. I thought I was good. I don't like to be photographed. But, a few years later, I started getting calls from Gautam saying he wanted to take my pictures. I always ignored that," she said.

Mangeshkar said she was recording for a Bengali song at Salil Chaudhary's studio when Rajadhyksha came and took her pictures.

"I feel happy that those photos are still being used at many places. But, initially when I saw the photos, I was very disappointed because they were better than the pictures I had taken. I actually stopped photography after that."

"He says what he wants to say through his photos," the 81-year-old legendary singer noted.

"Shooting didi (Lata) is difficult even though she is easy in front of the camera," Rajadhyksha said. "It's difficult because didi herself is a very good photographer. She is well versed with the nuances of photography."

Rajadhyksha said he never wanted to be a photographer.

"I wanted to be a writer as I was working in an ad agency. My cousin Shobha (columnist Shobha De) told me to do both ...write articles and take pictures. After a while I realised that people wanted only my photos and not articles," he said.

The 60-year-old fashion photographer said the camera brought him closer to people and made him friendly with personalities from all walks of life.

"Chehre has my individual opinion about the faces I have captured on my camera. It's written with a lot of love. This book is my salute to those whose pictures appear in the book. They gave me a lot apart from posing before my camera."

"I learnt something or the other from each of them which made me improve not only as a photographer but also as a human being. This is an exchange of dialogue and emotions with them through the lens and hence I thought I was appropriate to pen it down in my mother tongue Marathi," he said.

Hema Malini described the book as a collection for art lovers, while Kajol said it was a collection of memories.