Ace photojournalist recalls his photo shoots of Italian screen legend Gina Lollobrigida, who passed away at 95 in Rome on 17th January 2023
Picture Talk/By NK Sareen
“A woman whose smile is open and whose expression is glad has a kind of beauty no matter what she wears.” — Anne Roiphe
Italian screen legend, Gina Lollobrigida, also called the world’s most beautiful woman, passed away at 95, in Rome this Monday, 17th January 2023. She was one of the highest profile actresses of the Golden Period of movies —the 1950s and 1960s, according to me— who appeared in such classics as Crossed Sword (1954) and Solomon and Sheba (1959) and shared screen with such legends as Humphrey Bogart, Rock Hudson and Frank Sinatra. Later, she became a very successful photojournalist when she achieved a scoop to get an exclusive interview with Fidel Castro.
Gina had come to Delhi as a member of the Jury of the International Film Festival of India, which was headed by Satyajit Ray. She had come with her latest published book as a photojournalist, which she showed at her press conference held at PIB conference hall in Shastri Bhawan. After shooting her from a close range of about 3 feet I went to the Italian ambassador’s residence to shoot some more exclusive pictures of her, two of which were published in the Illustrated Weekly of India with a story by my friend and editor, S. Venkatnarayan. More than half a dozen pictures of mine were carried by a film weekly called Film World from that exclusive lot.
My second meeting with her took place in (then) Bombay, when American producer director Krishna Shah invited me to the muhurat of his Indo-American co-production Shalimar, with Dharmendra and Zeenat Aman as her co-stars.
For me she was not only the most beautiful woman, but I found her very gracious, dignified and a pleasant person without any airs of an international film star.
Gina Lollobrigida was among the last living stars who’ll always be missed but her contribution to the world of cinema and her achievements as a photojournalist live forever.
I have some very cherished memories from both her visits to this country especially with the pictures that I captured.
[Main/Featured picture from the muhurat of the film Shalimar]
Also, by the same author: That last meeting with Amrita Pritam at her Hauz Khas residence and more – THE NEWS PORTER
In this column, ‘Picture Talk’, veteran photojournalist NK Sareen, a former Photo Editor at Expanse International and a writer, shines light on some of the pictures of personalities he has clicked over the years, with a touch of nostalgia. The views expressed here are the author’s own and The News Porter bears no responsibility for the same.
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