Behind-the-scenes with Vogue India's July 2012 covergirl Diana Penty

Travel: Maldives with cover girl Diana Penty

To create the July cover Vogue India travelled to the Maldives with model Diana Penty who makes her big Bollywood debut this month, in the movie Cocktail. This may be your last chance to see the perfect and polite Diana, behind-the-scenes, before she's engulfed in a swarm of media attention.

Find out what else she got up to while photographing the Vogue cover in idylllic Landaa Giraavaru.

Did you bring back souvenirs from Maldives?
This was my very first visit to the Maldives. We stayed at Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru, which was stunning. The beauty of it is that each hotel is an island of its own. My souvenirs are all one of a kind–memories that I will cherish forever. I also got a ton of photographs on my camera–I got some really great shots.

What was the highlight of the shoot?
Getting to visit a place I hadn’t visited before. I loved it so much, I’m sure I’ll be heading there again soon.

Did you have any amazing meals?
The Four Seasons had some really good eating options – I particularly enjoyed the meal we had at Blu, the Italian restaurant.

What’s the one thing that would take you back to Maldives?
It’s hard to state just one thing: there are so many cool reasons – but the spa at the Four Seasons would be a big draw. It has a glass bottom, so when’s you’re lying facedown enjoying a massage, you can see the fish swimming in the sea. It’s a surreal experience.

Any recommendations for places to unwind after a long day?
After we finished the shoot, the team hung out at the Seabar lounge at the hotel, which extends out into the jetty. It’s such a relaxed place, it’s perfect to get a nice drink and unwind.

What was playing on your iPod during your stay?
I had my whole collection – but I played Coldplay’s X and Y quite a lot.

Any interesting anecdotes you’d like to share?
We were having dinner at Al Barakat, the Lebanese and Moroccan restaurant at the hotel one night and one of the waiters spotted a shark! It seems that the sharks don’t generally venture close to the shores, particularly in the daytime, but maybe this one was lost. We ended up following it all over – it was all very exciting.

– Renuka Joshi