Colour me not!

Colour me not

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Dipti Nagpaul D'Souza

Posted: May 28, 2010 at 0039 hrs IST

Till now, Deepika Padukone has capitalised on her urban chic image. That works wonders when she plays progressive characters like that of a model-turned-actress in Om Shanti Om, a cab driver in Bachana Ae Haseeno, a heritage conservation architect in Love Aaj Kal and an architect in Karthik Calling Karthik. These are the films which have established Padukone as an actress in Bollywood.

That was the story so far. In her next, Khelein Hum Jee Jan Se that is set in India before Independence, director Ashutosh Gowarikar is giving her an image makeover. Padukone will be seen in cotton saris, sporting two plaits and no make-up. Neeta Lulla, who has designed the costumes for the film, feels that the 24-year-old actress has the grace to pull that off with lan. "This is what the role demanded. Besides, Deepika doesn't need make-up or urban clothes to look good," says Lulla.

Though some may consider it brave that she let go of her glamour in the film, Padukone is probably only one of the many other lead actresses who are willingly giving the greasepaint laden look a break. Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan will be seen sporting a loose kurta-churidar with her hair in disarray almost throughout her next film Raavan. Bipasha Basu, who has not yet endorsed the no-make-up look in a single film in her nine-year career, shed it for Lamhaa where she plays a Kashmiri Muslim girl. Sameera Reddy goes a step further. She dresses in combat outfit-like attire with unkempt long hair for her character as a Naxalite in Red Alert-The War Within.

Katrina Kaif cites her simple look in Raajneeti, as an advantage. She didn't have to bother about clothes and make-up and could hence even play cricket with the boys on the set when she wanted to. "I don't like dressing up and could walk in to the set in a kurta and jeans and shoot straightaway without sitting for a long make-up session," she laughs. As simple as this may sound, Bollywood is decoding Kaif's decision to de-glam as one that indicates security on the actress' part. "Not only Katrina, but all the lead actresses are experimenting. This goes on to show that most of them don't feel insecure anymore as they have found their own space in the industry," points out Rahul Dholakia, the director of Lamhaa.

Though it is said that Kareena Kapoor took the lead in Jab We Met, many believe that Priyanka Chopra is the real propagator of the trend with her roles in Kaminey and now Saat Khoon Maaf. In fact, she went out of her way in What's Your Rashee? to adopt looks that were in no way flattering. "This was recently followed by Vidya Balan in Ishqiya who proved that simple can be sexy," points out Lulla, who also dressed up Chopra in Rashee.

Even the new brass in Bollywood seems to have shed their inhibitions. Star daughter Sonakshi Sinha is taking the risk of playing a village girl in her debut movie Dabangg opposite Salman Khan. After Dev.D, Mahie Gill will yet again go sans make-up in her second film, Paan Singh Tomar. "My first film established me here even though I didn't sport a speck of make-up. So I have nothing to worry about or to lose this time around," remarks Gill.

Tigmanshu Dhulia, the director of Paan Singh Tomar, points out that much of it can be attributed to the fact that the industry is creating more women-oriented characters. "Women are no longer the glamourous props in the background. Apart from that, with the whole world looking at Indian cinema, filmmakers as well as actors are willing to put in research and stick to authenticity," he says.

However, not everyone is viewing the situation with rose-tinted glasses. A filmmaker, who uses real characters in all his films, looks at the de-glam trend among the top actresses as their way of announcing to the world that they are taking "acting" seriously. On condition of anonymity, he adds, "And you have no idea how much make-up goes into the no-make-up look.