Kingfisher Calendar girl Nathalia Pinheiro started modelling at the age of 14 in Brazil;Pic by Atul Kasbekar

They’re the newest top stars of the ramp. They come armed with stunning good looks, daddy long legs and sassy attitudes to match. Their reward: a truckload of big brand assignments in which they breathe life into designer clothes, flash perfect smiles from snazzy television commercials and pout from magazine covers.

But that’s not all. The star models of yesteryear sometimes made a giant career leap to the fast-moving, dangerous world of movies. But today’s spunky, ambitious youngsters are multi-taskers who aim to deftly straddle the twin worlds of modelling and acting.

Take a cue from model Tena Desae, who is tagged to be the next Frieda Pinto as she romances actor Dev Patel in John Madden’s The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. She’s already one of the modelling world’s top stars with over 100-odd television ad campaigns to her name.

Or meet Maia Haydon. The model, who is most recognisable as one of the Pepsi women, who appeared in an ad with a group of cricketers, will soon have her very own item number to flaunt. She shakes a leg with actor Saif Ali Khan in his upcoming Agent Vinod. And look at model Sayami Kher who is heading to Hyderabad and has signed up for a Telugu project down South as a stepping stone to Bollywood. Also on a southward expedition is Nathalia Pinheiro who has just finished shooting for a Kannada film.

Reigning Miss India Kanishtha Dhankar has been on the cover of fashion magazines like Grazia and Marie Claire Pix: Nitin Patel

“The trend now is for them to turn to acting and maintain their modelling assignments. At the same time, the exposure to a larger audience through films gives the models a quantum leap in desirability and, with it, the quality of commercial assignments that come their way,” says choreographer Vidyun Singh, a fashion industry veteran.

But, as Vidyun Singh emphasises, the money in modelling is still good, so none of the youngsters is about to abandon it in a hurry. According to industry estimates, the new clutch is commanding prices that range around Rs 35,000 per catwalk show. And the payments in the ad world could be anywhere between Rs 1.5 and Rs 2.5 lakh per day per ad or around Rs 10 lakh a year on a contractual basis.

The 20-year-old Sayami Kher has already been in the arc lights for a couple of years but she’s clear that she’ll stay in modelling and also pursue her passion for acting. At the moment the young model is gearing up for a second round of shooting that will start in Hyderabad and end in the US. One round of shooting has already taken place on the streets of Bangkok. “Let’s say it is a rehearsal before I make my way into mainstream Hindi films,” she says with a smile.

She hasn’t however neglected her modelling career and has a string of fashion magazine covers, fashion editorials and a slew of prestigious ad campaigns to her name — including Pantaloons, Levi’s, Raymond and L’Oreal. But Kher is keeping her eyes trained on the big prize — movies.

“I am choosy about my campaigns because I have been advised that the film industry prefers fresh faces,” notes the sensuous beauty who has inherited her looks from her model parents, former Miss India Uttara Mhatre Kher and Adwait Kher. Add to that, her glamorous pedigree — she is the granddaughter of famous Marathi-Hindi actor Usha Kiron and the niece of actors Tanvi Azmi and Shabana Azmi.

Modelling and more

Maia Haydon made her debut in Bollywood with an item number in the soon-to-be-released spy flick Agent Vinod Pix: Atul Kasbekar

Not only are these models the fashion photographer’s delight, but some are sizzling on coveted calendars as well. And this year has been no different for the glamorous Kingfisher Calendar 2012.

The winner of the Kingfisher Calendar Hunt for the year, Nathalia Pinheiro, an Indian-Brazilian also has her eyes trained on the Hindi film industry. Pinheiro has been modelling in India since 2010 when she flew in from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The 5ft-9in leggy Brazilian is scrupulous about the kind of work she does.

With an extensive portfolio — she started modelling at the age of 14 in Brazil — Pinheiro concentrates only on shooting for fashion magazine covers. She has already made it as the cover face for Verve, OK and L’Officiel. Apart from which she has also done ad campaigns for brands such as W, UTV Bindass, Vaseline and Avon Cosmetics.

But Pinheiro is clear about the future. “The eventual idea is to share screen space with Shah Rukh Khan,” smiles the 21-year-old who was born in Rio de Janeiro to a Punjabi-Portuguese father and a Portuguese mother.

To get to Tinseltown, she is also taking the southern route and is all set to make her debut with a Kannada film opposite Kannada star Diganth. “I play a Bollywood diva doing her first film in the South,” says Pinheiro, who has tied up with Toabh Talent Management to manage her fledgling modelling career in India. But, with one eye on the silver screen, she has signed up for Bollywood dancing and diction classes in Mumbai, which is the city she calls home in India.

New jersey-born Aditi Shah gave up a budding career in finance to become a model

Desae — instantly identifiable as the ‘Dhak Dhak Go’ Hero Honda girl — found her doorway to the modelling world through Channel V’s Get Gorgeous contest. She’s had her Bollywood debut with Yogesh Mittal’s thriller Yeh Faasle in which she co-starred with veteran actor Anupam Kher. It was followed up by a role in actor Parvin Dabas’ directorial debut, Sahi Dhande Galat Bande. Unfortunately both films vanished without trace.

But as fashion photographer Vishesh Verma puts it, “Desae has the trump card in her hand, what with a prestigious film in hand by someone as well acclaimed as Madden (of the Oscar winning 1998 film, Shakespeare In Love, fame). The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is Tena’s first large-scale project. It couldn’t be better than to start with a John Madden film. But the question remains — is she the next Frieda Pinto?”

Different strokes

Cut to supermodel Lisa Haydon’s younger sister, the lissome Maia Haydon, who is all set for her debut item number in the spy flick, Agent Vinod (expected to release in March). Expect to see the 5ft-9.5in lady shaking a leg on screen with actor Saif Ali Khan. Haydon has already made her mark in the last two years in big television commercials like the World Cup Pepsi ad with cricketing legends Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar.

But Haydon isn’t satisfied with the twin challenges of acting and modelling. “On a parallel front, I am seriously into deejaying and producing music through The Electroverts, an electronic-techno-progressive kind of outfit that I started with fellow deejay, Nina Shah,” says Haydon. She insists that she’s also guided by her managers Bling! Entertainment Solutions and allows the company to chart a career course for her.

“What counts for Maia is her undeniably stunning body. And apart from the film, the Kingfisher Calendar should also bring her into the limelight since she has some lovely shots to offer,” says Kasbekar, who has just shot the 23-year-old in exotic locales in Sri Lanka for the Kingfisher Calendar.

Tena Desae shares screen space with Hollywood stars Dame Judi Dench and Maggie Smith and youngster Dev Patel in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

On the other hand there’s the reigning Miss India, Kanishtha Dhankar. She has been a familiar face on the catwalks even before she won the beauty crown last year. Her model management agency, Anima Creative, is now gearing up for an international debut for her on international ramps.

“Kanishtha has been noticed by international clients who have been coming to India for shoots. She has the potential to make it to the international fashion scenes of Milan, Paris and New York. We are working on her portfolio to that end,” says Gunita Stobe, founder of Anima Creative Management.

Dhankar, beside being on the cover of feted fashion magazines such as Grazia and Marie Claire, has an impressive portfolio with modelling assignments for the topnotch names in fashion such as Manish Arora, Sabyasachi Mukherjee and Anamika Khanna and Tarun Tahiliani. She also boasts of key campaigns such as the World Gold Council wedding campaign with Sabyasachi and L’Oreal.

Her pageant crown is also taking her places. “I walked the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival of 2011 with Sabyasachi Mukherjee as my country’s representative,” points out the 5ft-10in model. With the blaze of publicity in the last year she has also been getting Bollywood offers.

“Last year Kanishtha came into her own on the ramp even before she won the pageant. She has the kind of appearance that makes it easy for her to carry off multiple looks,” says Vidyun Singh.

Striking out big, too, is 25-year-old Aditi Shah. The 5ft-7in model, born and brought up in New Jersey in the United States, gave up a budding career in the big bucks world of finance to pursue a career in modelling.

It’s destination Bollywood eventually for Sayami Kher, who is now shooting for a Telugu project down South. Pix: Atul Kasbekar

“Ever since I was a child I have been in love with acting. I was the weird one in the family — my mother is a computer engineer, my dad is an investment banker and my two brothers are immersed in the world of economics,” laughs Shah. She interned in the Prime Equity department of Goldman Sachs after studying mathematics. The 5ft-7in model adds: “But I can always return to it later in life after I have had my fill of indulging my passion.” So, she landed up with bag and baggage in Mumbai in 2010 and signed up with celebrity and talent management company, Kwan.

Shah is a regular face on TV with commercials such as Dove, Garnier, Tata Vista, Chevrolet Beat, Thums Up (with Akshay Kumar), Vadilal, Britannia Bourbon and TVS Scooty (with Virat Kohli) to her credit. Her print campaign list is hefty too with brands like Garnier, Pantaloons, Dove and Fastrack in her kitty while she has appeared on the cover of the US edition of the Conde Nast Traveller.

Add to it the fact that she has walked the ramp for quirky milliner Little Shilpa and designers such as Neeta Lulla, Sanchita Ajjampur, Vikram Phadnis, Manish Arora and Manish Malhotra,

Even though they are juggling multiple-careers these youngsters seem to find time for more. For instance, Pinheiro is a trained opera singer and Shah is a violin player.

Then you have Kher who has an extremely athletic background. “I am a fitness freak and I would rather indulge in sports than go gymming,” she says. The youngster was a state-level badminton and cricket player. Adds Kher: “I had to pass up on a selection call for the Indian women’s national cricket team because of my modelling. But this is what I have wanted to do, so no complaints on that count.”

How many of these glamorous youngsters will make the transition all the way from the ramp to the silver screen? It’s all a matter of time before we know the answer to that one, but till then, here’s to the models earning their stripes.