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Some exposure!

Close-up with photographer Atul Kasbekar

SHUTTERBUG Atul Kasbekar

Ace photographer Atul Kasbekar has a job profile that any shutterbug would give his right arm for: shooting the annual Kingfisher Swimsuit Calendar and also having India's who's who ranging from Big B to the Little Master and Malaika Arora posing to be painted by his lens. And now it is time for the fourth edition of his signature swimsuit calendar to be released.

Renowned for its choice of exotic locales (South Africa last year), this time around Kasbekar has chosen Australia for the backdrop for his exotic models. This year the line-up is composed of six fresh faces that includes Deepika Padukone, Karishma Kotak, Mashoom Singha, Neelam Chauhan, Shilpa Reddy and Shruti Agarwal. Kasbekar says we might be hearing more of the models once the calendar is released.

Date with fame

"A lot of the big names are a creation of the calendar... Yana Gupta, Katrina Kaif, Pia Trivedi... They got their first bit of stardom from the calendar. There was a time when Miss India and the other contests made the stars but now the Kingfisher Calendar ranks amongst them."

A sneak preview of the calendar reveals that it is not just the faces that have changed. The swimsuits have been designed by 22 design students from fashion schools across the country that include NID, NIFT, SNDT and Sophia Polytechnic. And Kasbekar has adopted a whole new approach while shooting his photographs. He says his shots are much more wider than traditional swimsuit shots. "In calendars such as Sports Illustrated the people come in more close. There is no background. It has its own appeal but I decided with Vijay Mallya that you need a new direction. We agreed to make it wider with more background. Also there is not much dependence on the beach."

Coming to the issue of choosing new faces and getting design students working on the wardrobe, Kasbekar says he wants the calendar to be a platform where Indian talent can be showcased. "In the first year we needed credibility. So we went for the big names. Last year, we went for the next rung of super stars. This year we have chosen new faces and thrown open the doors to design students. This will help the students the most. It will ignite them to do something. Imagine your creation in the Kingfisher Calendar."

ANAND SANKAR

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