EXCLUSIVE: Atul Kasbekar speaks about the Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif connection at the launch of his first Kingfisher calendar shoot

Atul Kasbekar is the man behind the hottest calendar of the year, the Kingfisher Calendar that is known to raise the temperatures every year. Apart from being a fashion photographer, he is also a well-known Bollywood film producer. The Kingfisher Calendar shoot has often been a stepping stone to success for several models. Actress Katrina Kaif was also a part of the first shoot done by Kasbekar nearly 20 years ago. In an exclusive conversation with Bollywood Hungama, Atul Kasbekar spoke about Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif's connection with his first shoot.

When asked about his experience of working with Katrina Kaif for the calendar shoot, Kasbekar said, “Actually at that time she was a bit chubby because she was very young. She was not in swimsuit shape. To be honest, we had to struggle a bit to get pictures of her. While she was fit, I think she was like 18-19, your body has still not lost all of it adolescent or lack of a better word puppy fat. But there was no question that this was an exquisitely beautiful girl. So we managed to get a couple of pictures that worked really nicely. When the launch party happened and I remember it was Shah Rukh Khan who launched it and all his pictures were taken against Katrina's photo. It was a coincidence and everybody was like who's the girl on the horse. So, from there her career went ahead a lot. I mean it was one of the reasons.”

Atul Kasbekar also said that in the first year of the shoot, many models loved their concept and idea but were skeptical to be part of it as it was an alcohol brand. “If you notice, the first years' models were, Ujjwala Raut, Shivani Kapoor, Yana Gupta and Katrina Kaif. All people who had some foreign connection or they had worked abroad. All the Indian girls said no. In the second year, all the Indian girls also wanted to be in there as well. And in the third year, I had moms calling me why don't you look at my daughter. So, I think we made it honourable, and made it respectable and made them look beautiful first. We took great pains to make sure they were elegantly sexy always,” he added.

ALSO READ: EXCLUSIVE: “Every person who’s complaining about nepotism, have you stopped following every star kid’s Instagram accounts?”- Atul Kasbekar

source https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/news/features/exclusive-atul-kasbekar-speaks-shah-rukh-khan-katrina-kaif-connection-launch-first-kingfisher-calendar-shoot/