Bollywood's hottest with Dabboo Ratnani
A glimpse of ace photographer Dabboo Ratnani's 2011 calendar.
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2010 saw some of Bollywood's hottest actors in a different light. Having shot his glamourous models in colour all through the year, ace lensman Dabboo Ratnani decided to do something radically different for his own calendar. "All the stars are comfortable with whatever I decide. They never question me, because we have faith in each other. So whenever I discuss a concept with them, they are happy to go along. I usually share three or four different ideas with the actor. If they are not convinced, we work on it. It is important to be confident about each other; only when the model is able to relate to the picture will he or she be able to give 100 per cent to it," says Ratnani, speaking exclusively to Sarika Sharma, NDTVMovies.com.
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"Deepika is a photographer's delight. She has a brilliant body and is very versatile. In 2009, you saw her in a saree, and for 2010 this sensuous image... both are equally stunning and at the same time complete contrasts," says Ratnani. (As told to Sarika Sharma, NDTVMovies.com)
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For the 2010 calendar Ratnani has picked some fresh faces for that year - Imran Khan, Asin, Farhan Akhtar and Genelia D'Souza. But others like Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif, return as old favourites. According to him: "These are people I shoot with a lot. They have been part of the film industry for a while now and are stalwarts in their own right. They make the calendar look good. Each shoot has taken half a day and the pictures are very different from what you would see on magazine covers or elsewhere. Each picture has some kind of setting. A lot of thought goes into each photograph." (As told to Sarika Sharma, NDTVMovies.com)
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Ratnani insists how stars fare at the box office has nothing to do with his line-up for the calendar. "Sometimes these are people I have worked with in the last year and sometimes they are friends from the industry. It has nothing to do with how the year has been for an actor. I don't care what their box office performance has been. There's no particluar criteria that I follow," he says.
While all the stars are dear to him, Ratnani admits King Khan is the easiest to work with. "Shah Rukh is a photographer's model. You have to explain to him just once and then he himself sees the vision of the man with the camera. He puts in every effort to acheive that and also adds a lot of value to the image with his own expressions," says Ratnani. (As told to Sarika Sharma, NDTVMovies.com) -
According to Ratnani it helps that his relationship with some of the stars dates back to their early days in showbiz. Take for instance, Priyanka Chopra. "She is extremely photogenic. She gives her best in ever photoshoot and loves being in front of the camera. We have been working together since Priyanka's modelling days and the chemistry we share is simply brilliant," he says. (As told to Sarika Sharma, NDTVMovies.com)
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Ratnani attributes his success as a photographer to the trust that he is able to build up with his subjects and get even stars like Vidya Balan to shed their inhibitions. "This is one of the hottest pictures of Vidya ever. I think she is always open to experiment. She trusts me completely and because of this trust she is very comfortable in my working environment," he says.
And if you haven't had enough of your favourite stars, here's a look at some images from Dabboo's 2009 calendar. -
Deepika Padukone: Dabboo's brush with the world of photography largely happened by chance. What started as a hobby soon became his passion.
It's been over 10 years that Dabboo has been into the profession.
Last year Dabboo had shot her in a saree for the first time. He said: "Deepika wanted to do something different. So we chose a sword and it came out really powerful in terms of its appeal." -
Dabboo with Esha Deol (2009): While they all look equally ravishing when clicked by Dabboo Ratnani, the photographer enjoys working with both male and female stars alike.
When asked if there was any signifant difference in shooting male and female stars, Dabboo answered, "Not really. I enjoy shooting with both. They are both equal for me. Just that shooting male stars is a lot quicker. There's less makeup involved, while with the females the scope for experimentation is a lot more. One can do a lot in terms of look and make-up."
