Mysore/Mysuru: Pre-wedding photoshoots are quite a craze among new age couples. Donning different clothes and choosing exquisite locations, the shoots are laced with a lot of creativity. And most couples are smiles and mushy in such pre-wedding shoots — the friendship that gets forged with the bride and groom is unmistakably evident in every photoshoot.

Mysuru city surroundings, with its stunning landmarks, is now-a-days the best choice for couples for such shoots. While in a normal day there is heavy traffic on such roads and junctions, bandhs, with minimum or rather zero traffic, provide a good opportunity for pairs to shoot on the middle of the road, sitting on medians and cuddling together with beautiful landmarks as background.

Unaware or rather not bothered by the reason for the bandh, these couples get their photos shot by professional photographers. The photographers too like to go out of their way to make the couple feel relaxed and comfortable. The pair is drowned in their own world, preparing for a new life together. 

Today’s Bharat Bandh provided a perfect opportunity for a couple to shoot to their heart’s content in and around Mysore Palace surroundings, Chamaraja Circle and Dodda Gadiyara premises. They began the shoot early in the morning and the shoot went on till about 10 am. Minimum traffic on the thoroughfares helped them have better views of landmarks.

Not only today, during the Karnataka Bandh called by pro-Kannada activists on Dec. 5, photoshoots were held near Kote Anjaneyaswamy Temple in front of the Mysore Palace where a couple of pairs posed for photos. There was no one to ask them to pack up. 

While shooting at the middle of city centre is not dangerous, such events if held on the city outskirts in water are fraught with danger like it happened to a couple from city who met watery grave in River Cauvery at Mudukuthore in T. Narasipur taluk of Mysuru  district on Nov. 9.

The couple, Chandru (28) and Shashikala (20) was to get married on Nov. 22 and for the photoshoot, they ventured into the river in a coracle. During the shoot, when the couple was standing on top of the coracle for a photo, the coracle turned turtle and the couple drowned.