Bollywood's hottest with Dabboo Ratnani

Ace Photographer Dabboo Ratnani's 2011 calendar features a porcelain perfect Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. (Photos: Dabboo Rattnani)

Hunky Hrithik dares to bare for 2011. (Photos: Dabboo Rattnani)

Mr Bachchan gets back to the basics. Well, sort of... (Photo: Dabboo Rattnani)

A mesh of natural beauty in world of bling for Katrina Kaif.(Photo: Dabboo Rattnani)

2011 sees a very Dabangg Salman.(Photo: Dabboo Rattnani)

And what would the year be without King Khan himself? (Photo: Dabboo Rattnani)

2010 saw some of Bollywood's hottest actors in a different light. Having shot his glamourous models in colour all through the year, ace lensman Dabboo Ratnani decided to do something radically different for his own calendar. "All the stars are comfortable with whatever I decide. They never question me, because we have faith in each other. So whenever I discuss a concept with them, they are happy to go along. I usually share three or four different ideas with the actor. If they are not convinced, we work on it. It is important to be confident about each other; only when the model is able to relate to the picture will he or she be able to give 100 per cent to it," says Ratnani, speaking exclusively to Sarika Sharma, NDTVMovies.com.

"Deepika is a photographer's delight. She has a brilliant body and is very versatile. In 2009, you saw her in a saree, and for 2010 this sensuous image... both are equally stunning and at the same time complete contrasts," says Ratnani. (As told to Sarika Sharma, NDTVMovies.com)

For the 2010 calendar Ratnani has picked some fresh faces for that year - Imran Khan, Asin, Farhan Akhtar and Genelia D'Souza. But others like Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif, return as old favourites. According to him: "These are people I shoot with a lot. They have been part of the film industry for a while now and are stalwarts in their own right. They make the calendar look good. Each shoot has taken half a day and the pictures are very different from what you would see on magazine covers or elsewhere. Each picture has some kind of setting. A lot of thought goes into each photograph." (As told to Sarika Sharma, NDTVMovies.com)

Ratnani insists how stars fare at the box office has nothing to do with his line-up for the calendar. "Sometimes these are people I have worked with in the last year and sometimes they are friends from the industry. It has nothing to do with how the year has been for an actor. I don't care what their box office performance has been. There's no particluar criteria that I follow," he says.

While all the stars are dear to him, Ratnani admits King Khan is the easiest to work with. "Shah Rukh is a photographer's model. You have to explain to him just once and then he himself sees the vision of the man with the camera. He puts in every effort to acheive that and also adds a lot of value to the image with his own expressions," says Ratnani. (As told to Sarika Sharma, NDTVMovies.com)

According to Ratnani it helps that his relationship with some of the stars dates back to their early days in showbiz. Take for instance, Priyanka Chopra. "She is extremely photogenic. She gives her best in ever photoshoot and loves being in front of the camera. We have been working together since Priyanka's modelling days and the chemistry we share is simply brilliant," he says. (As told to Sarika Sharma, NDTVMovies.com)

Ratnani attributes his success as a photographer to the trust that he is able to build up with his subjects and get even stars like Vidya Balan to shed their inhibitions. "This is one of the hottest pictures of Vidya ever. I think she is always open to experiment. She trusts me completely and because of this trust she is very comfortable in my working environment," he says.

And if you haven't had enough of your favourite stars, here's a look at some images from Dabboo's 2009 calendar.

Here's a look at some of Dabboo's 2009 pics.
2009 being his 10th anniversary edition he had covered 48 stars.

His regular Katrina riding a horse.

Bipasha Basu (2009): About Bipasha Basu's 2009 pic, Dabboo had said: "I got the inspiration behind this in playing cards with images of sexy girls. That is where I got it."

Deepika Padukone: Dabboo's brush with the world of photography largely happened by chance. What started as a hobby soon became his passion.

It's been over 10 years that Dabboo has been into the profession.

Last year Dabboo had shot her in a saree for the first time. He said: "Deepika wanted to do something different. So we chose a sword and it came out really powerful in terms of its appeal."

Lara Dutta (2009): We all are familiar with the various avatars Lara Dutta has adopted in her career so far. But not many people have had the luck to see her in a bath tub.

Amrita Roa (2009): Amrita Rao not only seems to be striking a pose here, but she's also making a statement. A statement that is as apparent as its sheer visual appeal.

Dabboo with Rani (2009): His quotes from last year: "All are close to my heart. Priyanka is really photogenic. Then there's Tabu. And I think Rani looks really good as well."

Dabboo with Esha Deol (2009): While they all look equally ravishing when clicked by Dabboo Ratnani, the photographer enjoys working with both male and female stars alike.

When asked if there was any signifant difference in shooting male and female stars, Dabboo answered, "Not really. I enjoy shooting with both. They are both equal for me. Just that shooting male stars is a lot quicker. There's less makeup involved, while with the females the scope for experimentation is a lot more. One can do a lot in terms of look and make-up."

Arjun Rampal (2009): Seen here Dabboo with Arjun Rampal.

Ajay Devgn (2009): Dabboo said last year that shooting for the calender is a whole lot of fun. It's something the photographer looks forward to and is glad that his subjects cooperate with him in making the calender.

Ayesha Takia (2009): Not many people have the luck to enjoy a truck ride with Ayesha Takia on the bonnet!

Once Dabboo wanted Sanjay Dutt's Ferrari for his shoot.

Riteish Deshmukh (2009): Take a look at Dabboo enjoying himself with Riteish Deshmukh.