Have Character, Will Wear

Time was when Jeetendra wore all-white shirt, trousers and shoes. Now think Shah Rukh Khan8217;s grungy gaberdine jackets and Rani Mukerji8217;s chantilly lace and net sarees and streamlined skirts with corsets in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, Abhishek Bachchan8217;s Kashmiri shawl with sherwanis in Umrao Jaan, Salman Khan8217;s brown corduroy coat in Jaan-e-Man and SRK8217;s without collar ties in Don. Or even Saif Ali Khan8217;s clothes in Omkara, which had a green hue to suggest envy, the mainstay of his character in the film.

In today8217;s multiplex-driven looking Hollywood but still Bollywood, a costume stylist is no longer just your dresswala. These days, they are booked before actors are. Ask Karan Johar, he went on with Manish Malhotra8217;s clothes in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna even if it meant an extra large dent in the production budget. Much before Johar got the combination dates of his blockbuster cast, the film-maker and his favourite couturier traipsed around New York to lend authenticity to the dressing. 8220;Karan and I bought stuff from brands like Etro, Diesel and Prada from New York. The Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy group also sponsored us, so we got bags from Christian Dior and LV. While the scenes were being shot, I was constantly hunting for one outfit or another,8221; says Malhotra.

How difficult can it be to get intelligent in a commercial masala Bollywood film, right? Quite difficult. ASk Sabyasachi Mukherjee, who took on the Ravi Chopra film, he second since Black. 8220;While Sanjay Leela Bhansali8217;s film was completely out of the box, this was one posed a real challenge. Frankly, its quite easy to do a film where you can be intellectual but to be intellectual and zany in a commercial film is difficult,8221; he says. In Baabul, he says, he evolved as a designer since I had to do the works in the masala framework and yet make Rani8217;s character believable.8221; His approach: Since she plays an artist in the first half, he dressed her up in quirky stuff while in the second half when she8217;s married, he went all out to create a gallery with sarees. His next assignment: Yash Raj Films next to be directed by Pradeep Sarkar where he is dressing Rani, Konkona SenSharma and Jaya Bachchan.

In a stylist8217;s vocabulary, God does reside in the details. So if Adajania has a logical explanation for why Abhishek Bachchan is not wearing glasses in Dhoom 2 8220;he8217;s got contacts now8221;, fashion designer Aki Narula will tell you that Shah Rukh Khan8217;s satin floral shirts in Don are a tribute to the 70s. 8220;Especially in the song Yeh Mera Dil, I wanted SRK to pay a tribute to the era of the original Don. I remembered, my dad used to get these floral shirts from Bangkok so I decided to go with it,8221; he says. As also SRK8217;s grey shirt in Khaike Paan Benaraswala8230; where Narula used the same motif as worn by Amitabh Bachchan in the original. In Bunty aur Babli, he referenced the street chic of Punjab 8212; from hankies used as accessories to the scrunchies matched by the outfit 8212; to create a whole new urban-meets-rural chic look.

So, is it science behind the art? Partly. 8220;Designing for films is not just about buying expensive brands with Versace and Armani printed all over them,8221; says Malhotra. 8220;Whenever I source clothes, I like to play around with the styling.8221;

Narula did it with his signature style of Don, the without-collar tie worn by SRK. 8220;I wanted to use the polka dotted bow tie that Mr Bachchan wore in the film but I needed to upgrade it to 2006 so I decided to do ties with the shirts. The idea was that if you put it around the neck, it could look like a cravat. That enhances the cool quotient of SRK8217;s character.8221;

Character is the operative word. Today8217;s director wants to get his character right, down to the way he folds his sleeves or keeps a stubble. As Malhotra says, 8220;The trick is to weave the clothes as part of the narrative, so when you8217;re watching an actor, you8217;re not thinking, 8216;Oh God, why is this guy8217;s muffler so large?8221;

That8217;s the fear plaguing Nikhil Advani for his forthcoming Salaam-e-Ishq. 8220;My brief to costume stylist Vikram Phadnis was to follow the characters. Agar picture dekhne ke baad log bole ki kapde achche the toh we would have failed,8221; he says. For the director of Kal Ho Naa Ho, styling is an important aspect. 8220;Styling is not just about clothes, it has to establish the character who takes my story forward. Like in the film, John and Vidya play a newly married couple so we8217;ve shown that when they wake up in the morning, John is wearing the pajama while Vidya is in the kurta.8221; In Salaam-e-Ishq, all 12 actors have been given a colour code. Since Chopra plays an item girl, she has been given excessive reds, purples and gold. John and Vidya have lots of reds and whites to play around with. Akshaye Khanna and Ayesha Takia grapple with blue and green while Govinda who plays a taxi driver gets rustic and warm hues.

When styling gets this serious, it can stick on too. If a look clicks for an actor, he flaunts it off-screen too. Look at Abhishek Bachchan. Post his stubble-and-two-buttons-undone-style-in Dus, he8217;s stuck to the look in his other films and elsewhere. Ditto for the coloured lapels in suits that he8217;s flaunting post KANK. The hairband that he displays at public functions these days is also a part of his look in the forthcoming Jhoom Barabar Jhoom.