Fashionably filmi

For Rohit Bal’s show in Delhi last year, which was sponsored by Omega, it was the watch brand’s svelte spokesperson Sonali Bendre who took the ramp at the end of the show. Incidentally, although Bal believes that actresses have become more stylish of late, he doesn’t think they make good ramp models. "The calibre of people joining films has improved in the last ten years, and they are more fashion conscious. But having a hugely popular film star walk the ramp at a show detracts from the whole purpose of a show. After my show, most people only spoke about Sonali, not so much about my clothes," he complains. However, he makes it a point to mention that he wasn’t very disappointed with the fact that it was Sonali Bendre on the ramp as against, perhaps, some other heroine, the reason being that Bendre is a former model herself. "It’s okay to have a model-turned-actress walk the ramp as she understands the business. She knows how to walk and how to present the clothes, which is the most essential bit for anyonetaking the ramp," he says.

And that’s a point even Shahab Durazi argees with. "I prefer professional models taking the ramp since they have right body and the right walk," he says, and adds that he might not have used an actress for his show had it not been sponsored by Longines. But he isn’t really complaining, because Aishwarya Rai who was the chosen one for his show, "is not only very confident on the ramp, but is also in good shape." He says he has a problem with most other models-turned-actresses "because they tend to be a little heavy." And that’s why he thinks Urmila Matondkar is among the only other movie star who could appear ravishing on the ramp.

In fact, Durazi says all the actresses who are now being seen as fashion and style icons, are those who started their careers in the fashion business. "Many models are now becoming part of the film industry, which is why both industries have a relationship," he says.