End of an period as curtain falls on Kingfisher Swimsuit Calendar

By IANS

NEW DELHI:  After an extended stint of 19 years, the Kingfisher Swimsuit Calendar involves an finish. The calendar revealed yearly by the United Breweries Group of India revealed the final version in 2021.

Since 2003, it was one of the vital prestigious calendars to be launched from India and might be credited as being a launchpad for main fashions and actresses. Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone, Yana Gupta, Sonali Raut, Ujjwala Raut, Nargis Fakhri, Bruna Abdullah, Deepti Gujral, Lisa Haydon, and Angela Jonsson have all been featured on its pages.

The calendar has been shot in unique locations across the globe. The Kingfisher Swimsuit Calendar 2021 was introduced again to the house base and was shot in the course of the pandemic in Kerala.

Ace photographer Atul Kasbekar has been the person behind the lens since its inception. He is the one superstar photographer in Asia, who has been related to a calendar and the model for therefore lengthy. As the curtains come down on the calendar, IANSlife caught upwith Kasbekar to look again on the making of the annual Calendar and an period of trend and wonder.

Read Excerpts:

The Kingfisher calendar was the primary luxurious company calendar out of India, similar to worldwide calendars. what was the imaginative and prescient you began out with?

Kasbekar: I consider what occurred with the calendar was that it started to behave as a platform to showcase expertise; we found that many individuals from the calendar rose to stardom, and for those who have been chosen for it, it virtually put you in one other orbit. The highlight was on the expertise that featured in it, and it took issues to a better stage.

Of course, whether or not it was Katrina Kaif, who was within the first version, Deepika Padukone, Yana Gupta, Nargis Fakhri, Saibi Kher, and all of the others, rose just a few notches, it aided their careers significantly, in a fashion of talking, we had a really excessive ratio of expertise recognizing. What was the thought behind the calendar?

Kasbekar: Two many years in the past, to grasp the context by which the Kingfisher calendar began, for me as a photographer, it was a possibility to do one thing that concerned me reporting to the shopper straight, which was an important aid provided that, in any other case, you need to undergo the company route and a number of layers in any type of approval on actual creativity.

So I had this concept for doing one thing which is a cross between Pirelli and Sports Illustrated (The Pirelli calendar images fashions with totally different photographers through the years, and ladies are the theme). It’s actually the photographers’ interpretation, and you’ll solely get the Pirelli calendar from the chairman’s desk; you’ll be able to’t purchase one. Sports Illustrated has all the time been a swimsuit calendar shot on unique seashores world wide, however you’ll be able to simply get it from a e-book retailer.

We did a swimsuit calendar as a result of it is Kingfisher beer, and a chilly beer on a heat seaside is a improbable drink, and it simply appeared splendid. The good model match, the wedding of the 2 lay within the context of that you simply could not get it at a e-book retailer it was despatched to you in case your identify was on a listing.

To be a Kingfisher calendar woman meant you had arrived within the modeling world, who have been essentially the most memorable fashions you have shot with?

Kasbekar: The actually well-known fashions are already identified; they went on to turn into film stars, however there have been some gorgeous fashions through the years that we’ve got shot, like Angela Jonsson, Kanishtha Dhankar, Lisa Haydon, Kate Mara, and Priya Emmanuel, so there have been a bunch of people that have been actually wonderful and a pleasure to shoot with, and it has truthfully been a privilege.

You shot the calendar year-on-year with out falling into the trope of casting celebrities. who can we credit score for this?

Kasbekar: The calendar began making a reputation for itself for making individuals well-known and giving them a platform, and so we noticed no motive at any cut-off date to make use of the crutch of utilizing somebody well-known. To say that the thought was not considered greater than as soon as, and due credit score goes to the individuals who believed within the energy of their very own property ie the calendar, and determined to not go down the route.

Will you miss capturing a calendar, and do you consider there is a company who wish to launch one. What will it take to get you to shoot for it?

Kasbekar: I believe I all the time noticed the calendar work as a type of calendar artwork in a really business sense, however it was nonetheless within the zone of business artwork, a minimum of in my head, and I might like to do a mission like this. There are two issues to keep in mind, one is that I believe visible communication actually must focus extra on images as an artwork type and a type of expression, and for me to shoot one, will probably be an thrilling prospect.

The very considered a calendar, per se, the final twenty years, has diminished. Nobody actually places up a calendar anymore. So provided that you do one thing like this, if it transcends into an artwork type, and if somebody goes into that area, it will be an absolute pleasure to collaborate as an artist.

Your most memorable 12 months and why?

Kasbekar: It can be cliche to say that yearly is particular, however I’ll say that it has all the time been improbable to shoot in South Africa as a result of there may be a lot it gives. In truth, we’ve got shot there 3 times and every time was totally different, demonstrating the sheer vary of images and backgrounds accessible in that stunning nation. The different place that I might like to return to for a shoot or in any other case is Mykonos in Greece.

Beauty and trend actuality exhibits did not fairly take off in India as they did within the West regardless of lockdown and the variety of OTT platforms, why?

Kasbekar: To be sincere, I by no means watched too many of those magnificence and trend actuality exhibits. The Kingfisher calendar had a hunt for the Kingfisher calendar ladies, which I believe ran with cheap success for 4-5 years and found some attention-grabbing new faces. I used to be a part of that as part of my commitments to UB group and the mission.

I’m the fallacious individual to ask concerning the actuality present’s success in India. Having stated that, I’ve to admit that I’ve mates who watch Bigg Boss with unbelievable regularity and when that dialog begins, I’ve actually nothing to contribute.

What’s subsequent on the charts?

Kasbekar: We are in talks with the UB Group to see if we will transcend going above and past the calendar mission. We are hoping to give you one thing that is extra with the instances. I’m very eager that it goes into some type of digital artwork type of area. That’s what I hope to do.

Separately, we’ve got been producing motion pictures, ‘Loop Lapeta’, which is our homage to Rum Roller Run, the Greman basic, goes to be out on Netflix in early February. Then there are 3-4 different movies that we stay up for this 12 months. We have stored ourselves fairly busy within the pandemic engaged on materials and are placing it collectively now.