Aditi Rao Hydari: Pirelli Calendar 2027 Artist

“When I got the call for the Pirelli Calendar, I thought it was a prank. I thought,‘Is this happening?’ I called [back] and it was [true], and I was so excited. My heart was racing. I was literally pinching myself. I put the phone down and I prayed. I said, ‘This is iconic. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I hope the universe makes it happen.’ I didn't know whether dates would work out or anything. So, I really manifested that it would work, and it did, and here I am. It's quite amazing”

“When Indian actress Aditi Rao Hydari arrived at the majestic Jaigarh Fort in Jaipur, Rajasthan, for her Pirelli shoot, she knew little about what to expect. Although familiar with Rajasthan and the “timeless artistry” of The Cal, it was her first visit to the 300-year-old fortress and her first time working with Norwegian photographer Sølve Sundsbø. In addition, the sun was blazing. Yet, fuelled by a gut instinct that “this is going to be a really incredible experience”, Rao Hydari says she instantly felt at ease and was soon “enveloped in love” as she posed amid a bed of flowers.

“I loved every second of being in front of the camera, being with the team, just being here and feeling the energy of this place, there's something about it. You feel the history; this is what India is. There's magic in every corner”

Rao Hydari, who is descended from two royal lineages, has an enduring love affair with the camera that began at an early age. Growing up surrounded by family in Hyderabad, southern India, photography-loving aunts and uncles would have her pose for pictures and she relished the “magical” way it transported her from the present moment.

“I forget whether it's day, night, sun, moon, rain. I love the relationship with the camera, and I'm a director's baby. I love that process of surrender. I find that time between ‘action’ and ‘cut’ like a magical liminal space where you can be anything; you can do anything. It's indescribable what that feels like. I love it.
I love the camera”

Over her fifteen year career, the actress has been the muse of some iconic directors and photographers, giving herself over to the artistic experience and trusting the person behind the camera to pull out different, hidden parts of herself. Nevertheless, she found being photographed by Sundsbø especially revelatory.

“I have a habit of not wanting to look at the monitor, because when I surrender to a creator, I'm like, ‘you mould me how you want to mould me.
You direct me.’ But Sølve called me to see [the image he had taken], and i saw a version of myself that I've not seen before”

A classical Bharatanatyam dancer before she became an actress, Rao Hydari has always loved to dance and move, whether it's yoga, the Indian martial art Kalari or playing hide and seek as a child in her grandmother's home. She first appeared on screen while still a student in a Tamil-language drama Sringaram. Did she always know what she wanted to be?

“As a little girl, I watched [the films of] these three masters Mani Ratnam, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Rituparno Ghosh. And I knew that I wanted to be a Mani Ratnam heroine, a Sanjay Leela Bhansali heroine and a Rituparno Ghosh heroine. I didn't know how but that's where I saw myself. I managed two of those manifestations. The third [director], Rituparno Ghosh, is not with us anymore. I kept this wish very close to my heart. I never spoke about it, and one day, it happened. So, I still feel like that little girl who believes in magic and manifestation, and I feel that the universe will always envelops me in love, like the Pirelli Calendar. I mean, who would have known?”

Rao Hydari also described as “so special” the fact that the 2027 Cal will effectively have three photographers after Avani Rai took on the task from her late father, Raghu Rai, who was due to shoot alongside Sundsbø and spent his final months working on a series of photographs reflecting his vision of India.

“I think it's a very beautiful thing that Pirelli has done to [reflect] the merging of different worlds… where you have Sølve, who is looking at India through his eyes, and Avani, who was born in this country and looking at India through her eyes. For Pirelli to have thought of this and made it happen is really incredible… The Pirelli Calendar is for the world, and the essence of India also belongs to the world. And I hope to see the images in that way, where you find the essence of India in an expansive way where people from different parts of the world can feel the inherent beauty and expansiveness of India”

And how would she describe what India means to her?

“India is like a mother. India is warm, generous, welcoming, colourful, chaotic. India also scolds you. India puts you in your place. Sometimes, India shows you the mirror. India makes you feel like you. And I would say that India is like a multitasking, magical genius that effortlessly roots you and makes you find yourself… You can leave India, but India will never leave you”