Esha reveals Mallya took ‘interest’ in calendar models

Vijay Mallya’s famous calendar was one of the boldest fashion moves in India. Launched in 2003, the swimsuit calendar quickly became the talk of the town. The annual calendar featured Indian models in stunning international locations and gave a fresh new take on glamour.

By the late 2000s, it had turned into a national obsession. Models who appeared in the calendar often went on to become Bollywood stars. Big names like Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone and Esha Gupta were all part of it at one point.Esha Gupta opens up about Mallya’s interest in modelsIn a recent chat with Siddharth Kannan, actress Esha Gupta spoke about her experience with the calendar and the parties that were reportedly hosted for the models. Siddharth said, “It was said that Vijay Mallya took a lot of interest in his Kingfisher models.”

To this, Esha quickly agreed, saying, “Yes.”He went on, “He had a vision for them. There used to be parties for the Kingfisher calendar models.” But Esha was quick to clarify her own involvement, saying, “I wasn’t one of those models.”

When she was asked if she had attended any of Mallya’s famous yacht parties, Esha said, “That I’ve never attended. Na mujhe invite aaya, to be honest. I think only one party once I was invited to, but I wasn’t a model back then.

I was invited through someone else in Delhi.”Vijay Mallya recently opened up on the sameWhile the calendar was known for its bold style and exotic photo shoots, it also became a platform that introduced many young models to the entertainment industry. In an earlier interview with YouTuber Raj Shamani, Vijay Mallya himself spoke about how he picked the models featured in the calendar.He said, “We chose the right girls, whether it was Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif. We had all the heroines and the stars on the calendar at a younger age. We picked the right talent.”He also denied any personal connections with the actresses featured in the calendar, adding, “It was strictly to the calendar.”