This wedding videographer learnt everything he knows from Shah Rukh Khan, Farah Khan

If you catch Vishal Punjabi in Mumbai, you’re probably seeing him run an errand or two in the city. The wedding videographer confesses with a laugh, “I usually come back to Mumbai to do my laundry or sort the next travel out.”

Point out almost any city on the map and he’s been to it. No surprises since he’s been to 80 countries - and counting! Having shot the nuptials of some of the most well-known names in India, life is a hop-on-hop-off schedule. But Vishal, who has seen the world of wedding photography go from cheesy to cool, is not complaining! He continues to live and breathe shaadis, capturing moments that last for eternity.

We got hold of the maverick everyone is chasing in the wedding season, and yes, he was living out of a suitcase again. But YS Life got Vishal Punjabi to sit down and give us a refresher course on bringing the big Indian wedding to life.

He hasn’t been a wedding guest in 12 years!

Vishal Punjabi is probably happiest when he’s travelling, which luckily forms a large part of his work. He’s in Bali, catching some winter sun with his lens in tow, of course. It’s for a family wedding and he’s glad as this beautiful part of the world was cut off thanks to COVID-19 restrictions.

The man who’s filmed more than 550 weddings to date surprises you with an admission. “Strangely, I haven't attended a wedding in 12 years! I end up filming every single friend or family member’s wedding,” he says.

How the West loves it

Vishal has shot the who’s who in society – from the Ambani family to superstar couples like Deepika Padukone-Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma-Virat Kohli, Katrina Kaif-Vicky Kaushal, Rajkummar Rao-Patralekhaa, Farhan Akhtar-Shibani. His pictures and videos grab attention for their grandeur and charm, in India and in the West.

He admits that Indian shaadis are loved and often leave folks gobsmacked. “Recently I filmed a wedding in Cannes and the couple had a red-carpet event at the film festival venue. Traffic stopped and the city came to a standstill, waiting for what they thought was Bollywood’s finest!”

Learning lessons from SRK

Born in Ghana and educated in England, Vishal joined Red Chillies Entertainment in 2001. He stepped into the wedding filming scene a decade ago at a time when shaadi photos and videos were a far cry from what you have today. Remember seeing those mountain posters as a backdrop or having a photo of the groom or bride in the reflection of water –scenes you might have a ‘face palm’ reaction to, today! Wedding filming has now taken a 360-turn.

He recalls: “When I started 12 years ago, wedding cinema (at least the kind we do) did not exist. You had clips of couples in waterfalls or beaches running around like Bollywood actors to a cheesy song. I personally find that cringy. The other option was a guy in shorts and chappals with a hot shotgun light and a huge camera on his shoulder filming everything unnecessary with random zooms and pans, cut with weird effects on five DVDs.”

His interest in changing how we look at weddings gave rise to ‘The Wedding Filmer’. Valuable lessons came from none other than superstar Shah Rukh Khan as well as Farah Khan, Bobby Sivan, and a few others in Bollywood.

“I learnt everything I know from Farah Khan, Shah Rukh, and Bobby Chawla (Juhi Chawla’s brother). These people literally held my hand and taught me how to break down scenes, how to plot ideas, and how to efficiently execute post-production tasks. I learnt the art of music and dance from Farah. From Shah Rukh, I learnt storytelling and editing (he is a fabulous editor),” Vishal shares.

Call him the ‘Oprah of wedding videos’

Vishal captures love and bonding instead of just a keepsake memory. His mandate is to bring families closer together by the end of the screening.

“They should hear and see the things they’ve craved to hear and see all their lives. Respecting the sanctity of marriage and treating their visuals with grace is of utmost importance,” he says. And he has one rule. He won’t ever don a director’s hat and govern where or show they should stand or how they ought to smile more.

“I don’t like to direct the couple. I have advertisements and Bollywood for that. Families, emotions, memories and bonds are all very real and should be treated that way. It isn’t about what I want them to remember, but about what they want to remember,” he says.

Each couple’s love story is different, and Vishal sits down with each, to ask and understand a little about their likes and their loves.

“I’ve spoken to about 1,000 brides and grooms and about 2,000 parents about three things mainly: Life, love and marriage. My head is full of stories in different languages, cultures, and forms. I have witnessed so many love stories - some arranged, some love, some just purely meant to be. It isn’t easy playing therapist and it does get difficult sometimes, especially when some weddings can be hectic without time to talk to everyone. I call myself the Oprah of wedding videos. It is something I look forward to doing,’ he says.

Music is also an integral aspect of Vishal’s craft. He has a repository of 50 original tracks, which comprise songs sung by the bride or groom, recreations of iconic love songs, original compositions, and more.

For Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli’s wedding, he recreated Peer Vi Tu, and did his own rendition of Andrea Bocelli’s Love Me Tender for designer Arpita Mehta’s bridal entry, which went viral.

“I wouldn’t want my memory to have a Bollywood song or a cheesy love song I heard on the radio unless it means something very dear to me,” he says.

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“This is my way of giving the wedding community something back. Music is the greatest gift. It really can last forever. And it also makes for a beautiful theme.”

Technology is part of what he does but it can’t replace his eye. “I don’t think machines can send our hearts racing the way my editors, composers and cinematographers are able to make us feel,” Vishal says.

Groom replacements, flying tempers: Yes, that’s happened

Vishal says the video making process is like creating a documentary. But with one difference. “Here, I write the script after the wedding is shot and I have everyone’s point of view on my computer. Then comes the task of scoring for the visuals. All the music we use is original and to everyone’s taste. After weeks of editing, the film goes through a colour correction process, fine tuning, and sound designing - just like a movie.”

Finally, it ends in a screening and a big party for all the guests who attended the wedding. “It’s like reliving it all over again,” he says.

But the going is not always smooth.

“Yes, there are stressful moments at weddings! I’ve had cinema-like moments like the groom being replaced at the last moment, or tempers flying because brides are late for their wedding. Many weddings I’ve filmed over the years have rained out, but we always try to make the best of what we have. In fact, I feel rain usually looks beautiful on screen if captured well,” he says.

His faves? Lake Como and St Moritz

For now, Vishal lives out of a suitcase quite literally. He’s always on the move so he has a bag with essentials ready to go (always including shoes and cufflinks). He’s particular about dressing like a guest as per the wedding theme so he can blend into the crowd to capture footage without obstructing visual aesthetics.

Having shot at the world’s most picturesque locations, he’s got his own top list of scenic wedding destinations. “I loved the layers of Lake Como. The air and light are magical. St. Moritz is like a dream in winter. I also loved shooting in Montreux. The one thing common to all these places is a water body and hills. It adds serenity and beauty like nothing else does,” he states.

During the pandemic, Vishal shot many weddings in the Maldives. The year 2022 saw him travel to Valencia, Lake District, and Miami. “In 2023, I’m excited to visit Vietnam, Vancouver, and Kampala for the very first time,” he enthuses.

Next up? London! The entrepreneur is looking to expand his global footprint and take up new challenges.

“We’re actively looking for investors who see potential in our brand to expand our horizons. We are just months away from opening our second studio in London, my second home,” he signs off.