Model, photographer, director and philanthropist Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri tells about her journey from Ranaghat to Hollywood glamour

“The earliest memories of my home are of Durga Puja”

Model, photographer, director and philanthropist Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri tells  about her journey from Ranaghat to Hollywood glamour

    MODEL-TURNED-PHOTOGRAPHER Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri has shot award-winning covers for Beyoncé Knowles’ solo debut Dangerously in Love, Mariah Carey’s Emancipation of Mimi and David Bowie’s Heathen, among others. In 2011, she directed a film, The Legend of Lady White Snake: A Tribute to the Spirit of Alexander McQueen, starring fashion icon Daphne Guinness. In the news a couple of years ago for a rumoured romantic relationship with Hollywood bad girl Lindsay Lohan, the half-Bengali, half-British glamourista turned her 300-room Ranaghat (West Bengal) palace, built by her ancestor Krishna Panti, into a school called Shakti Empowerment Education. The Princeton graduate tells us about her glamorous journey. Excerpts…
You became a successful model at 14 and then started experimenting with photography. Tell us about your journey. At 14, I hoped to learn photography through modelling. I was fortunate that my parents supported my ambitions. I travelled the world, working with top photographers and directors, learnt techniques from them,
and understood their individual creative processes. I practised my own photography, but was too shy to show my work until I met classical harpist Markus Klinko, with whom I formed a creative partnership, which has lasted 19 years. Now, I direct films and commercials. We’ve photographed most of the popular culture icons, which is now being collected in our book, Icons.
You walked into the heady world of glamour at a young age. How did it affect you? I was overwhelmed by the superficiality of the profession and the hedonism that comes with it. Creating my school in India kept me grounded and focussed. I had to succeed to support children who needed help in India. I found balance through meditation, studying with teachers around the world, especially at the Ramakrishna Vedanta Centres, and I received my mantra from Swami Bhuteshananda, the president of Belur Math.
Not everyone with a 300-room palace can turn it into a school. What was the inspiration? India was paradise for me while I was growing up. I used to live with my extended family in our ancestral home in Ranaghat, with childhood friends from all levels of society. I was inspired by family’s volunteer work for numerous charities, like teaching English at the Ramakrishna Mission and throwing fund-raising galas for Mother Teresa, at whose feet I sat at Sunday school. But when I returned to India at the age of 18, I was shocked to see many refugees had infiltrated my home. I travelled across the country for six months on a photography pilgrimage, and realised that the need of the poor was so great. I devoted all my modelling earnings to uplift the poor, focussing on the needs of women. I founded Shakti Empowerment Education with my father Ajay Pal-Chaudhuri, who left his comfortable retirement in Canada to live without electricity and running water, to prioritise the needs of our students.
What are your earliest memories of being in that house? My earliest memories at home are of Durga Puja... as a baby, reaching up to touch the life-size statue of the goddess or ‘maa’, as that’s what everyone called her.
What’s your creative style in photography? My style is hyper real — fusing fantasy with realism. And while I’m directing, my style is intense character development, experimental narrative structure and visual excess.
You were romantically linked with Lindsay Lohan… Such rumours abound when you become famous. There’s no way you can prevent them. So you have to laugh and save your anger for the real injustices in the world.
Do you personally go to India and spend time at the school? I plan at least one visit per year to my school. My dream is to expand its size and scope... increase its computer and practical training departments, and eventually create a women’s college.
Your first magazine cover was given by fashion icon Isabella Blow, where you shot David Bowie and Iman. How did you feel? It was for the London Sunday Times. Shortly thereafter, David Bowie and Iman commissioned our first book covers for Iman’s retrospective of her impressive career. And we shot Bowie’s album cover, Heathen. It was a fascinating experience.
Tell us about your recent works... My directorial debut film, The Legend of Lady White Snake..., won Best Film, Best Director, Best Special Effects, Best Fashion and the Red Epic Camera Award at the La Jolla Fashion Film Festival at the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, in August 2012. The nine-minute film is a post-modern fable, inspired by China’s ancient romance/horror stories and a poem by author, poet, graphic novelist, director Neil Gaiman, starring the Oscar-nominated actress Daphne Guinness as a snake demoness who transforms herself into a maiden to experience love.
Who are the women celebrities you’ve enjoyed working with? Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga, Katie Holmes, Iman, and Alecia Keyes.
Who are your personal icons in the world of style and fashion? David Bowie, Rachel, the character from the film Blade Runner, and the comic book character Elektra Natchios.
Do you cook fish curry when you crave for Bengali food? I crave my father’s Indian dishes, but unfortunately, I’m a terrible cook!
What made you write a book? Icons is a collection of the most celebrated images of pop-culture legends, accompanied by the inspiration or story behind each shot. It’s a guide to learn the secrets of the stars and how they can be iconic. For example, Beyonce’s Dangerously In Love album cover has her in a diamond vest, which launched her solo career and remains one of the most popular images of her till date. Another is an image of Lady Gaga in a couture gown created from stuffed toys by designer GK Reid, which we shot in a Masonic temple.
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The 300-room palace in Ranaghat, which has been turned into a school; (right) Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri

Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri; (above right) Chaudhuri’s photographs of Beyonce’s first solo cover album Dangerously in Love, and Lady Gaga