Dabboo Ratnani is an Indian fashion and commercial photographer, known for his annual calendar, first published in 1999. He has shot cover photographs for magazines including ''
Better Homes and Gardens.''
Biography
Born on 24 December, he practiced photography as a young man in Gujarat near Kashyap Makadia's house, training together with
Naren Sundar.
He has been working independently since 1994.
Work
Ratnani is a
portrait
A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this ...
and celebrity photographer in Indian cinema. His induction into the world of photography came about largely by chance. Films got Ratnani editorial work, which in turn got him model portfolios, which led him to advertising. His work has been used for film advertising and publicity
campaign
Campaign or The Campaign may refer to:
Types of campaigns
* Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed
*Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme
* Bl ...
s.
In 2006, he was in the jury for the
Miss India contest. Ratnani was a mentor for the ''
India's Next Top Model'' show, which aired on
MTV India
MTV India is an Indian pay television channel specialising in music, reality and youth culture programming. It was launched in 1996 as the Indian version of MTV and is owned by Viacom 18, a joint venture operation between MTV International ow ...
. In 2020 Ratnani also got featured in the N4M List of Top 10 fashion photographers of India
Calendar
Ratnani's best known work is his annual calendar.
He has helped create a trend of collectible celebrity calendars in India, after the fashion of the
Pirelli Calendar. He is one of a number of photographers with calendars widely covered in the media. Over the years
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" ...
stars have appeared on his calendar. Every year the launch of the calendar features celebrities, 24 of them for each year. 18 of the 24 celebrities, including Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Bipasha Basu, Arjun Rampal and Abhishek Bachchan, are a constant feature on his calendar. For the 2012 edition, Ratnani shot a video with some behind-the-scenes moments for each celebrity, which were made available on YouTube.
Film publicity
Ratnani has taken publicity stills for films like ''
Om Shanti Om
''Om Shanti Om'' (transl. ''Peace Be With You'') is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language fantasy romance film written and directed by Farah Khan, co-written by Mayur Puri and Mushtaq Shiekh, and produced by Gauri Khan under the banner of Red Chillie ...
,'' ''
Aatish,'' ''
Blackmail
Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...
,'' ''
Fiza
''Fiza'', also known as ''Fiza: In Search Of Her Brother'', is a 2000 Indian Hindi-language crime thriller film written and directed by Khalid Mohammed. It stars Karisma Kapoor as the eponymous lead, along with Hrithik Roshan as her terrorist ...
,'' ''
Hera Pheri,'' ''
Legend of Bhagat Singh,'' ''
Aawara Pagal Deewana,'' ''
Jhankaar Beats
''Jhankaar Beats'' is a 2003 Indian musical comedy film written and directed by Sujoy Ghosh in his feature directorial debut and produced by Pritish Nandy Communications. It stars Juhi Chawla, Sanjay Suri, Rahul Bose, debutant Shayan Munshi, R ...
,'' ''
Jism,'' ''
Jo Bole So Nihaal,'' ''
Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai,'' .
Magazines
He has shot cover photographs for magazines including ''
Better Homes and Gardens.''
Advertising industry
He also has worked in advertising for various brands.
References
External links
*
*
Dabboo Ratnani's interview on the calendar from Mid-Day
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ratnani, Dabboo
Indian photographers
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)