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It takes more than expertise to capture glamour on camera, which is why ace photographer Dabboo Ratnani trusts his instinct. His portraiture brings out the very best of Bollywood with the perfect focus, lightings and oodles of style.

In an exclusive interview with IndiaFM, the celebrity photographer speaks his heart out about Bollywood's favourite almanac- The Dabboo Ratnani Calendar, 2007.

This year, the theme of your calendar is "Water”. Why did you choose to go with this theme?
The 2007 calendar is the eight one in a row and since the last three years I have been contemplating on having a thematic calendar, to have one theme for all the stars. However all this while I could not think of a theme that would give enough scope to do 24 different visuals. First I thought of "Fire” but then it would look superimposed and similar in every picture. But water is something you can have in your glass, in the sea, in the pool or in your eyes. There are so many ways of using water. No other theme gave me the option and the satisfaction of using it in various ways. Water as a theme gave me enough scope for experimentation. That is why I went with "Water”.

Also I love shooting with natural light and I prefer shooting outdoors. "Water” gave me a lot of scope for doing so.

What else is new about your 2007 calendar?
This time, the calendar has been designed in-house to keep it looking like a photography calendar, something that has been done for the love of the art. Sometimes when an external agency does the work, the calendar becomes very design-centric. Photography being the main key of this calendar, we have kept the overall look very simple. We have not complicated the pictures and have kept them very basic and natural. Also, the "Water” theme has really worked for me. Somewhere it has made the calendar different from what I have been doing in the last seven years. So people reacted very differently to the calendar.

Tell us about Amitabh Bachchan having launched your calendar this year.
I had mentioned to Mr. Bachchan that I wanted him to launch my calendar. I had decided that only if he agrees to do launch, I will have an unveiling party otherwise I will leave it open to the press. It was him or nobody because I didn't think it was fair to call anyone else. Undoubtedly, Mr. Bachchan is a legend and is way above everybody else. With his stature, if I had called anybody else to launch my calendar it would be a political issue. But there is no question of comparing Mr. Bachchan with anybody else in Bollywood. So I was very happy that he agreed to do the launch.

I had decided that only if Amitabh Bachchan agrees to do launch, I will have an unveiling party.
You have shot with Ayesha Takia and Vidya Balan for the first time. What was it like?
I had shot with Ayesha a few times before but this is the first time I shot her for my calendar. Compared to last year, I think this time she was more comfortable working with me. We enjoyed working together. She loved my style of photography and I loved the way she looked. I saw a couple of movies of her last year and I thought she is a very interesting face to work with and she is definitely here to stay. That is why she was one of my picks.

Vidya is a big star now and is doing very well for her career. Plus she has a very pretty face so I knew I had to incorporate her in the calendar. I try and change the list of actors for my calendar every year but I always maintain 16-17 actors whom I have worked with before.

Whom did you enjoy working with?
I interact with celebrities I enjoy working with and who always make great pictures. That is how I select the list of 24 for the calendar. I have been a photographer for twelve years now and have mostly worked with Bollywood stars. They also find me very easy to work with. I don't give them stress and they don't give me stress. They are more like friends to me, and so I enjoy working with all of them.

Is there any actor or actress you wish to work with next year?
I have pretty much worked with all the Bollywood personalities and also with the newcomers. But the person I missed in this calendar was Kareena Kapoor. So I will definitely try to incorporate her in the 2008 calendar.

The person I missed in this calendar was Kareena Kapoor.

What are your expectations from the 2007 calendar?
The reaction from those who have seen it in the last three days has been very good. So the expectations are also high. The launch was done by Mr. Bachchan and he absolutely loved the pictures. He gave me a big hug after the launch. The actors who came in for the launch liked other pictures more than their own pictures. Overall the response has been overwhelming. I see 2007 as a good year.

As a celebrity photographer, what are the various challenges you face?
When you are shooting with the top actors and actresses in Bollywood, consistency is very important. You need to make them look good every time because they are almost public property. People who look at these photos are very judgmental of the stars. So being a photographer I need to be consistent and make the stars feel comfortable during the shoot so that they give good photographs. Also, a lot more care needs to be taking while shooting film actors. Unlike models, they are not very familiar with still photography. Models are used to roughing it out during such shoots and in case of the actors there is a certain bit I need to do from my end to ensure they are totally comfortable. Also, when you are shooting with the stars, they are adding a lot of value in terms of their very presence and expression. When I shoot with the same star year after year, I need to make sure that his expression is not the same. I have to make sure that the photograph looks different each time.

Have you ever thought of trying your hand at Hollywood?
I would love to work with Hollywood but we don't have the access to get there. But someday I think I will do it. It is everyone's dream to shoot international celebrities and I have actually shot some of them who had come down in India like Boris Becker and I also shot the Michael Jackson show. But I guess you need a big break to make it into Hollywood. Even if a Hollywood star comes down I may not be his first choice because there are many photographers out there who are producing good work. As much as I'd love to try Hollywood, it is not as simple as it seems. So I guess we need to keep getting better and get some international exposure to get noticed by Hollywood.

Even if a Hollywood star comes down I may not be his first choice because there are many photographers out there who are producing good work.

What are your aspirations for the 2008 calendar?
Every year, we aim to raise the bar for ourselves. We have to outdo our previous calendar so we are always competing with our own selves. I have already started thinking about what I am going to do next year. It's a thought that keeps evolving in terms of creativity. If you get stagnated, your downfall starts. Although the 2007 calendar is out now, I can not be relaxed. I have to keep giving good work consistently. We have already started thinking about the 2008 calendar and coming up with concepts to decide if we must go with the same theme or change the look of the calendar next year.