What if Pablo Escobar lived in Bombay?

Pablo x Bombay began with a simple cinematic thought experiment. Take a character whose visual identity feels inseparable from Colombia, place him thousands of kilometres away in Mumbai, and imagine how he would move through the city.

Inspired by archival references of Pablo Escobar and his screen portrayal in Narcos, the project reimagines that familiar visual language through an entirely different geography.

Our subject, Amit Thakkar, became the character at the centre of this alternate world.

Not a recreation of a scene. Not a costume portrait. A reinterpretation.

The starting point was character before photography.

We studied references across wardrobe, posture, grooming, colour, locations and the visual language surrounding Pablo Escobar, both historically and through his portrayal in Narcos.

Then came the question that shaped the project: If this character existed in Mumbai, where would he go? What would he wear? How would he occupy the city?

Mumbai became more than a backdrop. Its ageing architecture, coastal landscapes, crowded neighbourhoods, cafés, concrete infrastructure and constantly changing textures became part of the character itself.

The intention was to create photographs that felt almost like stills pulled from a film that never existed.

Rather than recreating Colombia in Mumbai, we deliberately allowed Mumbai to remain recognisable. The contrast was the point.

Vintage inspired styling and character references were placed against the visual contradictions of the city, old structures against modern skylines, quiet portraits against busy streets, polished clothing against weathered environments.

The styling, photography, cinematography and locations were developed together so that every element belonged to the same world.

Working collaboratively with photographers, cinematographers, stylists and artists allowed the idea to move beyond a conventional portrait shoot into something closer to a small cinematic production.

The project was photographed and filmed across multiple locations in Mumbai. Instead of relying entirely on controlled environments, we worked with the city as we found it.

And Mumbai had its own plans.

Rain became one of the biggest challenges during production. Locations, available light and timings had to change as the weather shifted throughout the shoot.

But that unpredictability ultimately became part of the visual language. The muted skies, wet streets, changing light and atmospheric texture gave the images a quality that would have been difficult to manufacture deliberately.

Rather than fighting those conditions, we adapted the visual direction around them.

Pablo x Bombay became an exploration of what happens when cinematic thinking is applied to photography. The final series sits somewhere between portraiture, editorial photography and film stills.

But more importantly, it established an approach that continues to influence the way we think at KiQa today.

Start with the world. Understand the character. Find the feeling. Then make the image.

Because sometimes the most interesting visual begins with a question.