From erotic fantasy to Indian identity, a famous Italian calendar finds a new story

Behi d-the-sce es
image
featu i g
Ava i
Rai
(left)
du i g
the
Pi elli
Cale da
shoot
i
Delhi
I
Pictu e
c edit:
Alessa d o
Scotti

I
1966,
a
photog aph
of
a
woma
i
u de wea
a ived
at
the
Vatica .
The
fashio
image y
might
seem
athe
tame
by
today’s
sta da ds,
but
it
was
e ough
to
p ovoke
a
official
complai t
f om
the
Holy
See
to
a
Italia
ti e
compa y
called
Pi elli.
The
Mila -based
ti e
ma ufactu e
had
just
begu
p oduci g
these
exclusive,
high-fashio
cale da s,
simply
called
‘The
Cal’,
as
a
t ade
gift
fo
its
top
clie ts
—
the
idea
bei g
to
give
VIPs
somethi g
a
cut
above
the
cheap
pi -up
cale da s
that
we e
sta da d
fa e
i
ga ages
a d
ti e
shops
at
the
time.But
the
co dem atio
had
the
opposite
effect.
Rathe
tha
supp essi g
the
cale da ,
it
ge e ated
e o mous
publicity,
t a sfo mi g
a
iche
co po ate
giveaway
i to
o e
of
the
wo ld’s
most
coveted
cultu al
status
symbols.
Withi
a
few
yea s,
the
cale da
became
less
a
ma keti g
gimmick
a d
mo e
a
a ual
efe e dum
o
whe e
Eu opea
ideas
of
beauty,
sex
a d
p ovocatio
stood.
Ove
the
decades,
figu es
f om
Naomi
Campbell,
Ci dy
C awfo d
a d
Kate
Moss
to
Pe élope
C uz,
Se e a
Williams
a d
Yoko
O o
have
bee
f amed
withi
its
pages
by
some
of
the
wo ld’s
most
i flue tial
photog aphe s.
But
sixty-two
yea s
a d
a
g eat
ma y
co t ove sies
late ,
the
most
ece t
editio
of
that
same
cale da
is
shot
ot
o
a
Medite a ea
beach
o
a
Ma hatta
studio,
but
i
the
fo ts
a d
villages
of
Rajastha
a d
the
mea
st eets
of
Old
Delhi,
eve
featu i g
eve yday
ba be s
a d
a tisa s.

The
2027
Pi elli
Cale da
is
dedicated
to
I dia.
Fo
the
fi st
time,
it
featu es
a
all-I dia
cast
a d
is
shot
e ti ely
i
the
cou t y,
built
a ou d
the
idea
of
I dia
ide tity.
So
alo gside
glamo ous
po t aits
of
celeb ities
like
televisio
host
a d
autho
Padma
Lakshmi,
act ess
Aditi
Rao
Hyda i,
sita ist
A oushka
Sha ka
a d
supe model
Bhavitha
Ma dava
a e
some
200
o di a y
I dia s,
f om
da ce s
a d
st eet
a tists
to
musicia s
a d
c aftspeople.

O e
half
of
the
2027
Pi elli
Cale da
featu es
I dia
celeb ities
photog aphed
by
No wegia
photog aphe
Sølve
Su dsbø
I
Pictu e
c edit:
Alessa d o
Scotti

The
p oject
bega
as
a
collabo atio
betwee
No wegia
photog aphe
Sølve
Su dsbø
a d
Raghu
Rai,
mode
I dia’s
most
celeb ated
photojou alist
k ow
fo
ch o icli g
the
cou t y’s
ma y
faces
a d
co t adictio s
ove
seve al
decades.
Rai
died
i
Ap il
sho tly
afte
the
p oject
bega .
His
daughte ,
photog aphe
Ava i
Rai,
stepped
i
to
complete
it
a d
i
doi g
so
cha ged
its
di ectio .
What
had
bee
co ceived
as
a
studio
shoot
moved
outdoo s
i to
the
eighbou hoods
he
fathe
spe t
his
ca ee
docume ti g,
f om
Ki a i
Baza
a d
Yamu a
Ghat
to
the
st eets
of
Old
Delhi.Whe
asked
how
a
p oject
like
the
Pi elli
Cale da
sits
alo gside
he
epo tage-d ive
p actice,
Ava i,
speaki g
to
TOI,
ge tly
ejects
the
p emise
of
the
questio .
Ge e,
she
a gues,
desc ibes
whe e
a
photog aph
e ds
up,
ot
how
it
is
made.
What
emai s
co sta t,
whethe
i
docume ta y
wo k
o
a
fashio
commissio ,
is
the
attempt
to
stay
ho est
to
what
is
i
f o t
of
the
came a.
“Cu iosity,
p ese ce
a d
empathy
a e
ot
specific
to
o e
ge e
of
photog aphy.
The
Pi elli
Cale da
asked
me
to
b i g
those
values
i to
a
diffe e t
co text.
I
was ’t
i te ested
i
maki g
images
that
simply
looked
beautiful.
I
wa ted
them
to
feel
alive.
To
hold
the
same
emotio al
ho esty
that
I
sea ch
fo
i
eve y
photog aph
I
make,”
says
Ava i
whose
mothe ,
co se vatio
a chitect
Gu meet
Rai,
also
appea s
i
the
cale da .Eve
to
this
day,
The
Cal’s
physical
copies
a e
ot
sold
publicly;
Pi elli
limits
p oductio
to
oughly
20,000
copies
a ually
a d
they
a e
se t
as
co po ate
gifts
to
mo a chs,
CEOs,
p ime
mi iste s,
top
celeb ities,
fashio
ico s
a d
the
like.But
why
I dia?
Su dsbø
says
it
was
a
lo g-held
ambitio
withi
Pi elli.
His
co t ibutio
came
f om
a
ve y
diffe e t
va tage
poi t—that
of
a
outside
co scious
of
his
ow
limitatio s.
“The
fact
that
Ava i
a d
Raghu
Rai’s
images
would
be
o e
half
of
the
Cale da
e abled
me
to
co ce t ate
o
po t aits.
That’s
a
smalle
a d
mo e
ealistic
task
fo
a
visito
tha
captu i g
the
whole
soul
of
a
atio .I
did ’t
t y
to
decide
what
“I dia ess”
should
mea .
Especially
ot
as
the
guest
that
I
am.
I
t ied
to
cast
people
I
admi e,
wome
who
have
i spi atio al
tale t,”
says
Su dsbø.The
editio
also
ma ks
the
fi st
time
Pi elli
has
commissio ed
two
photog aphe s
to
sha e
a
cale da .
What
makes
the
I dia
editio
otable
is
ot
simply
that
it
swaps
e oticism
fo
cultu al
ide tity;
the
cale da
has
bee
movi g
i
that
di ectio
fo
yea s.
Rathe ,
it
is
the
fi st
editio
shaped
by
two
i te twi ed
pe spectives:
a
outside
looki g
i
a d
a
daughte
completi g
he
fathe ‘s
fi al
p oject
i
the
st eets
he
loved.

“I
used
to
thi k
i he ita ce
was
about
co ti ui g
someo e’s
wo k.
Now
I
thi k
it’s
about
co ti ui g
thei
way
of
bei g
i
the
wo ld.
The
patie ce
they
lived
with.
The
i teg ity
they
ca ied.
The
ge e osity
with
which
they
met
people.
Those
a e
the
thi gs
that
su vive,”
says
Ava i.”Completi g
the
cale da
gave
me
a
se se
of
co ti uity.
It
was ’t
about
ec eati g
him
o
holdi g
o to
the
past.
I
u de stood
that
what
he
had
eally
left
me
was ’t
a
a chive
o
eve
a
body
of
wo k.
It
was
a
p actice
of
bei g
alive
to
the
wo ld,”
she
adds.

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