From being in front of the camera as an actor, Meghaa Israni decided to expand her horizons and stepped into the world of wedding photography. She founded Israni Photography & Films nine years ago and since then, her photographer brother Luv Isrrani and she have been creating wedding stories that last a lifetime.
The last few months might have curtailed people’s way of living, but it gave the company a chance to reinvent and restructure themselves. From June to September, when the country was under lockdown, they did ten weddings. “At least for the next one year, weddings will look extremely different and more experiential,” says Meghaa, who was just 22 when she started the business. The entrepreneur shares her journey with TMM.
How did you go from being in front of the camera to behind it?
I started acting in commercials when I was around three-years-old. Later, I also acted in two television shows. Something struck me that this is not really me as a person. I didn’t enjoy working for 18-20 hours at a stretch. There was money and fame but no creative satisfaction. That’s when my brother, a fashion photographer, was approached by a friend to do wedding photography. Nine years ago, there were only studios doing wedding pictures. Nobody was coming with a creative approach to shoot a wedding. My brother recognized the gap in the industry and realized it’s a great branch-out for him as a photographer. So, we created Israni Photography & Films.
How were the initial days of setting up the brand?
I took up a stall at JW Marriott and started doing marketing for the brand. I researched the business and realized that the international market was way ahead. We started doing pre-weddings nine years ago. We called a couple to the studio and did a stylized shoot with them. That’s when it took off and there was a lot of demand for that kind of stuff. People’s appreciation for the value you are adding to their lives is so high. I am still in touch with the couples whose wedding photography we did nine years ago. From the day we had a father calling and telling us that we have added so much value to his daughter’s wedding to now, there has been no looking back.
You work with your brother. What aspects of the business do you look after?
My brother heads the technicality and manpower side of it. What I add is the experience the client wants and client servicing. In these times of social media, you have to deliver on time. We have an in-house team. I look into creativity, clients and what products we can offer them. It’s not just about a great product but also a great experience attached to it. It’s about how you treat them, make them feel warm on the wedding day, and timely deliver the product.
With social media and so much exposure, clients’ demands must have changed immensely. What do you offer to create a unique experience for them?
Now, it’s about ‘my x friend did this and I want to do x plus y’. The most commonly asked question to us is ‘aap kya alag karoge?’ My most common reply is, ‘are you doing the pheras any different?’ We make a story out of the clients’ lives and we don’t tell them to act out their story. It’s a certain emotion captured on the day. If you ask me how different we can make it, it would depend on how differently you narrate your story to us. It has to be an extension of your personality. My specialisation has always been emotion and storytelling.
You have done approximately 600 weddings in the last nine years. Any special one that stands out?
Three years ago, we did a cruise wedding for seven days from Barcelona to Malta to Rome for my clients Neil and Deiya. It was with an intimate set of 200 people. The couple got married on the first day they landed on the cruise. And after that, every evening there was a party and every morning they would be out exploring a new city. It was all about capturing a bunch of young friends exploring a new city, eating at cafes, walking on the streets among other things. We were just going with the flow. I have done 2-3 more cruise weddings after that but this was the first and remains special.
Any advice or tips for couples?
My biggest tip is that they have to meet their photographer. Understand your vibe and if they are able to match to your sensibilities. My second tip is to hire a company and not an individual photographer. The third would be not to go on Instagram and check out the number of followers they have. Instead, seek for referrals and check out the portfolio. All these factors play an important role.
You have also written a book on your experience. Can you tell us more about that?
‘The Jitters Behind the Glitters’ talks about what goes behind the big fat Indian wedding. It is my contribution or my perspective to different stories that I have captured and it is something I want to tell the brides. There is a thin line between getting married and having a wedding. There is a lot of focus on those three days of wedding but not what’s going to happen post that. You have to give as much importance to your marriage as your wedding day. The book is ready to be launched but we are waiting to do it the right way.
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