Veteran Bollywood and fashion photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha, whose glamorous photoshoots helped propel many actors to stardom, passed away on Tuesday following a heart attack. He was 62.

Rajadhyaksha passed away at his residence here, his family said. The funeral of Rajadhyaksha, cousin of writer Shobhaa De, will be held this evening.

His first encounter with fashion photography happened in 1980, when he shot pictures of veteran actress Shabana Azmi, Tina Munim and Jackie Shroff.

Rajadhyaksha left his advertising job in 1987 and took up commercial photography full-time. He soon started doing product campaigns, media assignments and fashion portfolios.

In 1997, he released a coffee table book, ‘FACES’, containing 45 film personalities beginning with Durga Khote and ending with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

In 1992, he wrote his first screenplay for ‘Bekhudi’, which launched actress Kajol’s career and his second ‘Anjaam’ presented Madhuri Dixit in a challenging role.

Mourning Gautam’s death, De said, “Gautam’s soft-focus photography style was unique and his artistic personality was unmatched. There will be only one Gautam.”

Several Bollywood personalities also took to Twitter to express their grief over his demise. Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar said, “He used to like opera and had a sound knowledge of classical ragas. He talked to us on music and also explained photography to me.”

“Gautam Rajadhyaksha the most gentle of humans, and one of the finest photographers in the industry, a friend, family favorite. RIP. Too shocked to learn of Gautam! Were talking about him just the other day. Many of his pictures adorn our house and our books,” Amitabh Bachchan wrote on Twitter.

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