‘Amitabh Bachchan gave so much life to Ashwatthama’: Kalki 2898 AD’s costume designer used discarded material to create outfits

“Working with Nagi is one of the easiest and most comfortable experiences. This is my third project with Nagi. It was the first time I walked on a film that’s sci-fi mythological of the scale,” she said. 

Besides Prabhas and Deepika Padukone, Kalki 2898 AD also stars Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan in key roles. (Image: Kalki/Instagram)

The designer recalls creating to the look for Amitabh’s Ashwathamma first. “ The first look that we had with Bachchan sir when we had the costume, we had them with her and makeup. He just looked like Ashwathamma himself, and he just gave so much life to the character, and he owned the costume so effortlessly that it’s just one of the most gratifying moments for me,” she narrated.

Costume Designer #ArchanaRao shares her journey of bringing the world of #Kalki2898AD to life with her detailed costume work.

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— Vyjayanthi Movies (@VyjayanthiFilms) July 18, 2024

Crafting the costumes for Kalki 2898 AD was a four-year-long process for Rao as the film’s immense scale and intricate world-building demanded an unparalleled level of dedication. With no existing references, she had to invent a futuristic aesthetic from scratch, creating distinct visual identities for each setting. However, she calls it a collaborative process. “Creating all these worlds was a very collaborative process involving the production designer, Priyanka, Swapna Nagi, DJ, DOP. All of us sat together and started exploring each world at a time, we wanted to make sure that each world also has a deep rooted Indianness within it,” she shared.

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To reflect Kashi’s resource-scarce and harsh environment, the costumes were crafted from durable, non-biodegradable materials like plastic. Inspired by traditional Indian silhouettes such as lungis and sarees, the garments were distressed to convey a worn, weathered aesthetic. This design choice not only addressed the practical needs of the characters but also visually communicated the challenges of their world. 

Prabhas’ film has overtaken Pathaan and Gadar 2 at the box office

“Then it came to exploring textile fabric, silhouette, hair, and make up all of that came together character by character and making the whole world together. Three different worlds was to create a very definite colour palette with everything. With  Complex, we tried to use very royal colours. We try to use jewel tones and also black involved in it and there’s also an accent of red throughout with Kashi.  We had a lot of earthy tones, a lot of greys, a lot of browns, a lot of worn out distressed colours,” she elaborated.

Rao also opened up about the challenges of creating the world of Kashi as she was working with fabric that was really difficult to manage. “We tried to create textiles out of plastic or polyester and other kinds of synthetic and they are highly flammable but we tried to work with them. We distressed them with different kinds of paint techniques, a lot of burn techniques and a lot of distress. It was a lot of work to create that kind of textile and all of us had to get our hands dirty at some point,” she recalled . 

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To create Shambala, she used colours that come from natural resources like turmeric or flowers or by the natural tone of green. “Once we wrapped up the colour palette, we tried to create the textile and work with each world, and then we came up with the silhouette, so we wanted every language to be extremely different from one another. The costume team has really grown immensely by the end of Kalki one,” she added. 

Kalki 2898 AD has broken several records at the box office.

In an earlier interview with Deccan Chronicle, she revealed that for Ashwatthama’s costume, she employed mul cotton imprinted with a tree bark pattern, then meticulously distressed it by hand to create a translucent, tattered effect. This ageing process was essential to the character’s portrayal. For Kashi’s slum inhabitants, the team developed gritty, synthetic fabrics incorporating plastic elements. The raiders’ sleek appearance was achieved using rubber-coated neoprene, offering a subtle sheen.

“The cast, including Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone, fully immersed themselves in their roles. Bachchan was wrapped in layers of fabric for his character Ashwatthama, and Deepika embraced the distressed, aged look of her character. Prabhas wore a foam latex suit, dedicated to bringing his character to life authentically. Their commitment was crucial in realising Nag Ashwin’s vision,” she told the publication.