Kambakkht Ishq: We live in style age

Kambakkht Ishq: We live in style age

In Kambakkht Ishq, which is to be released today, designer Aki Narula has given a look of Supermodel on the street to actress Kareena Kapoor.

Styling in Hindi films is more reality-driven and stylists prefer to focus on the character they are dressing. But the reality can belong to a ramp in Milan, an office in Nariman Point or your neighbourhood fish market.

Clothes sourced from Milan, including a white satin mini dress, short dresses paired with jackets, lycra meets satin in Roberto Cavalli's clothing. Think short lycra dresses, tunics and gowns.

Think about the successful movies this year and the last – Rock On!!, Luck By Chance, Dev.D, Delhi 6, Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! – and you will realise that you somehow forgot to notice the clothes or wondered how they would look on you. Mandira Shukla, who ave the Chak De!

India (2007) girls their hockey uniforms and headbands, says, "For me the film works when you are not looking at the costumes. You need to make the tory come alive and make people relate to the characters. (They should) not come out and say 'she wore this… this is the latest style."

Shukla is currently working on a eter Weir production, apart from Mirch and Kushar Parsaad Ka Bhoot, a movie directed by Gary Grewal.While Manish Malhotra may have been credited with creating style-conscious divas Urmila Matondkar in Rangeela, Karisma Kapoor in Raja Hindustani), it was not until Farhan Akhtar's Dil Chahta Hai (2001), with costumes by Arjun Bhasin, that reality became a preoccupation with Bollywood.

Bhasin, along with designer Aparna Chandra and Anamika Khanna, is responsible for his year's stylish films such as Luck by Chance and Delhi 6. Last year, Urmila Lal otwani put Aishwarya Rai in corporate chic tweaked with an Indian touch in Sarkar raj.

Whether it is Sonam Kapoor's Chandni Chowk-style jhumkas in Delhi 6 or Sanjay apoor's red and gold net mata-ki-chunari in Luck By Chance, converse sneakers in Rock On!! or a pashmina shawl worn over muted western formals by Aishwarya Rai in arkar Raj, you can see that these stylists have put in an effort to define the character and his/her socio-economic background with their styling.

Dark, political sagas are tricky territory. Being stylish without being ostentatious; ll the while maintaining the right 'image' and treading the fine line between raditional and contemporary attire.

Yet Motwani, whose filmography includes Wes nderson's The Darjeeling Limited, struck a balance between corporate dressing and he desi politician's uniform. She chose to go understated and stuck to monochromatic combinations that exuded power, both on the corporate and the political front. She brought in small details in the form of high-end accessories like Mont Blanc racelets, diamond ear-studs, a sleek, studded belt, a state-of-the-art mobile phone and of course, expensive frames.

For Rock On!! Khan mixed punk style (studded wristbands, rings, pendants…) with hippy fashion (bandana, beads, long hair). She even took elements off the street and put hem on the big screen. "Directors sometimes laugh and tell me that I can write my own script one day.

To me, everything from what kind of pen the character will carry o whether he buys his chappals from Santacruz market or from outside Andheri station in Mumbai, is part of the back story," says Sanjeev Mulchandani, who is styling David hawan's Hook Ya Crook that stars John Abraham.The last few years have also seen a crossover from mainstream fashion (if fashion can be called mainstream) to Bollywood.

Professionals such as Narendra Kumar Ahmed, who put John Abraham in sleek suits in Baabul (2006), Aki Narula who styled Rani Mukerjee in Bunty Aur Babli (2005) and Kareena in Jab We Met (2007), Sabyasachi Mukherjee who worked on Baabul and Black (2005) and Laaga Chunari Mein Daag (2007) and is styling Sanjay Leela Bhansali's next, Aparna Chandra and Anamika Khanna who worked on Luck By Chance and Delhi 6 respectively, are all designers with day jobs that has very little to do with Bollywood.