Running for Cover

Mills & Boon launches its first book by an Indian author with Indian models on the cover.

If someone had told 25-year-old marketing professional Rohit Raghav six months ago that he would be on the cover of the Indian Mills & Boon novel,he would have laughed it off as a joke. The very idea of having an Indian Mills & Boon is new,so shooting for its cover would have sounded far-fetched, says Raghav. The tide of events,however,proved him wrong. Even as the second Indian Mills & Boon,His Monsoon Bride written by Mumbai journalist Astha Atray hit the bookstores across India last week,its interesting to note that it is the first with Indian models on its cover.

I have been modelling on and off for a while now,so when a friend informed me about the nationwide model hunt for the Mills & Boon cover,I applied without giving it much thought, notes Raghav,adding that he hopes to rise in the popularity stakes both on the modelling front and with the ladies post this shoot. For media professional Saumya,who shot along with Raghav,the feeling is yet to sink in. I remember reading Mills & Boon back in school and my mother is still an avid reader, she says.

Like Raghav,she too had applied a few days before the contest drew to a close. She hasnt modelled earlier but Saumya states that photographer Paramjeet Chawla and model Raghav helped put her at ease. We participated in a workshop a day before the shoot took place. The idea was to build a rapport that would translate into a comfortable equation before the camera, explains Raghav.

Chawla points out that the story dictated the shoot. I made sure that both the models knew what the story was about. In this case,the book is about a rich girl who falls for a guy who works in her fathers company,and the models were dressed accordingly. Saumyas attire,for instance,speaks of the characters riches; she fit the bill as she has that pretty-and-shy girl look about her, says Chawla.

Manish Singh,country manager,Harlequin India,observes that this is part of the Mills & Boon endeavour to connect with its Indian audiences and readers. Having Indian models on our books that are also authored by Indian writers is a unique initiative. It represents the global appeal Indians enjoy across the world, he says.

Whats even more interesting is that Raghav and Saumya are not the only ones to shoot for the M&B cover; the next two books to be written by Shoma Narayanan and Poonam Dabas also have Indian models on their covers. Automobile engineer Avee Saroya,counsellor Esha Trikha and entrepreneurs Sahil Dhamija and Ayush Manocha,are the other four who have been shortlisted by Talent Promoterz,the agency that has tied up with Harlequin to put together the online model hunt. We have adapted the Mills & Boon cover for the Indian audience. If the story permits,we could also have a model clad in a sari on one of the next two M&B covers, reveals Pinkeesh Devda from Talent Promoterz.

This is what M&B would call a happy ending.

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