Left: Sushrii Mishraa; middle top: Madusha Mayadunne; middle below: Atul Kasbekar; right: Diva Dhawan

DNA (January 16, 2019)

Business tycoon Vijay Mallya is currently in exile in London. Even as the legal wrangle on whether he will return to India to face the various charges levelled  against him continues, work on one of his pet projects — the Kingfisher Calendar — is underway. Ace fashion photographer and Bollywood producer Atul Kasbekar, who has been its architect since the beginning, has shot some of the most exotic models at famous locales.

This year, the Kingfisher Calendar marks its 17th year and has been shot in Sardinia, a picturesque island in the Mediterranean Sea. Featuring Shubra Aiyappa, Priyanka Karunakaran, Mitali Rannorey, Priyanka Moodley, Ishika Sharma, Sushrii Mishraa, Diva Dhawan, Madusha Mayadunne and many more, Atul has captured the sexy girls elegantly.

He says, “I don’t think there has been a longer association between a brand and a photographer that comes to my mind. These 17 years have been remarkable. It’s a tough job, but what’s the fun without hurdles. Each shoot has its own challenges. There is a lot of hard work behind the scenes that rarely gets documented, but the end result is worth every bit of the struggle.”