To Die For

“We barely got three or four hours of sleep every night. The only time we were alone was in the bathroom,” she laughs. But Modi,determined to make it as a top model,would go back and do it again in a heartbeat because of the “awesome pictures” she got out of it.

For the third season this year,NDTV Good Times is airing Hunt for the Kingfisher Calendar,the reality show which selects a fresh face each year. Famous for its exotic locations and leggy models in bikinis,the limited edition calendar shot by ace glamour photographer,Atul Kasbekar,is a coveted item. A spin-off of the calendar shoot,this competition draws contenders from all over India who want to feature in the calendar so much that they willingly jump through hoops and succumb to the pressure of looking their best 24 hours a day.

“The competition is purely based on looks and nothing else,” says Arati Singh,head of programming at NDTV Good Times. “We’re not very nice to them,putting them through tasks that are similar to a boot camp. The show is structured purely to suit reality television.”

The show airs at 10.30 pm every night and features 14 participants who have come from vastly different backgrounds such as small towns,conservative families and full-time careers. Yet they are bound by this dream of becoming the calendar girl. For some girls,especially the ones too old to be eligible for beauty pageants where the cutoff is 24 years,this is as close to fame,recognition and Bollywood,as they will ever get.

So strong is this lure of fame that Palak Agarwal,a 27-year-old model from Kuwait,left her 14-month-old son with her husband and mother-in-law to join the show. “Where there is a will,there’s a way,” she says. “This is a huge platform. I’ve been following the show for the last two years and I’ve always wanted to participate. Also,there was no clause that said that married women with children aren’t allowed.”

But being the oldest and the most experienced model in the competition doesn’t automatically give her an upper hand. While confident and respected for shedding her post-maternity weight so fast,Agarwal still faces tough competition from 13 equally driven and confident girls.

The Kingfisher Calendar may not be a sure-shot ticket to fame and fortune,but it has helped launch several careers over the years. With names like Katrina Kaif,Deepika Padukone and Yana Gupta in its calendar archives,it’s not a surprise that contestants like 25-year-old Mariette Valsan of Mumbai,who worked as a PR professional before switching to modelling,prefer it over beauty pageants.

Since all the participants possess enviable looks,body and a do-or-die attitude,what does it really take to impress the judges? “What we’re looking for is the X factor,that special something that sets the right girl apart,” says Kasbekar,who judges the show with former top models Milind Soman and Ujjwala Raut.