Delhi Waveriders — Rok Sako Toh Rok Lo!

June 25, 2014

Delhi Waveriders — Rok Sako Toh Rok Lo! | 2014 Campaign

There is something I have always enjoyed about photographing sport — movement gives you possibilities that a static portrait never can.

For the Delhi Waveriders campaign for the 2014 Hero Hockey India League, the idea was to create that sense of speed and explosive movement within a still photograph. Rok Sako Toh Rok Lo! was the campaign line, and the pictures needed to carry that same energy.

We photographed the players in action and created sequences within a single frame — a goalkeeper diving across the goal, a player driving forward with the ball, another swinging through a shot. The idea was not simply to photograph hockey players, but to turn their movement into the visual language of the campaign.

Delhi Waveriders had a formidable mix of Indian and international hockey players, led by Sardar Singh, with names such as Rupinder Pal Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Yuvraj Walmiki, Simon Child, Jason Wilson and goalkeeper Nicolas Jacobi in the squad.

The shoot also brought me face to face with John Abraham, who had joined Delhi Waveriders as co-owner and the new face of the franchise. I was meeting John after a long time, but our connection went back to his film Saaya. Years earlier, I had recorded a small byte for the film about a real-life out-of-body experience of mine. I wasn't quite expecting him to remember it after all those years — but he did.

It was nice meeting him again, this time on a completely different kind of assignment.

And Rok Sako Toh Rok Lo! proved rather appropriate. Delhi Waveriders went on to win the 2014 Hero Hockey India League championship, defeating Punjab Warriors in the final after a shoot-out. Nicolas Jacobi, whom we had photographed for the campaign, was named Man of the Match in the final.