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Delhi duo captures Khilji's ferocity, Ratan Singh's nobility in Ranveer and Shahid's armour in 'Padmavati'Abhimanyu Mathur| TNN | Oct 25, 2017, 01:00 IST

Ranveer Singh as Alauddin Khilji in 'Padmavati'

Shahid Kapoor's determined patriotism as the Rajput ruler Ratan Singh and Ranveer Singh's extravagant aggression as Alauddin Khiljiin 'Padmavati' have gotten a fitting support from the handiwork of two Delhi based leather accessory designers. Harsheen Arora, a psychologist by profession, and Vipul Amar, a businessman and an amateur photographer, have designed the armour for the two actors in the film. Talking about how they got involved in the project, Harsheen says, "We, sort of, developed an expertise in leather work and that is what got us noticed. Costume designer Maxima Basu contacted us saying Mr Bhansali was looking for someone to make leather battle armour for the two male leads in Padmavati." Before 'Padmavati', they had also worked on some leather costumes in 'Raabta'.

'Wanted to portray the characters' personality through the armour'
Harsheen says, "We have two characters that are both warriors but completely different from one another. Ratan Singh is an embodiment of love and patriotism, while Khilji personifies conquest and invasion. So, the armour they wear have to be different too. In Shahid's armour, the blood red depicts honour, love, and eagerness to serve one's land and the deep gold stands for courage, generosity and passion. In fact, the design elements in the armour are inspired by the sun's rays, while the colours of the chest-plate are taken from the colours of the desert at different times of the day - both important aspects of Rajputana." Khilji's armour is more extravagant, given the character is shown to be more self-obsessed, and it also features darker elements than Ratan Singh's character. Vipul tells us, "The leather lions on his shoulders show his strong-headedness. But since lions are associated with a sort of noble valour and we wanted to portray darkness, we engraved the lion heads with crocodile scales, giving them a dark, reptilian feel. This was done to bring out Khilji's ferocity."

Shahid Kapoor as Ratan Singh in 'Padmavati'

'Used only historical techniques'
The duo used techniques that were used in that era to treat the leather and did not adopt any modern technology. Vipul explains, "We did a thorough research on the armoury and weaponry of that era. We used actual historical techniques to create the armour such as cuir boilli technique, chiselling, inlaying, while making sure they align with today's standards of comfort and weightlessness. We even used the needles of the same size that were used in the 13th century for stitching." It took Vipul and Harsheen, along with a team of 40 workers and assistants, eight months to complete the work.

Ranveer Singh

'Despite the visual appeal, had to make the armour functional'
Apart from getting the look right, they also had to make them functional and comfortable enough for the actors to shoot in the desert. Harsheen says, "Ranveer's armour has 14000 separate parts and they all have to come together to make it not just look great on screen but be functional too. That was our challenge, to make something that is as visually grand as Mr Bhansali's vision and yet be comfortable for the actors to wear. When Ranveer asked us how heavy it was, we told him it was just 7.5kg, and he laughed and said, 'It is lighter than Deepika's lehenga!'"

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In order to get the functionality right, they consulted an engineer, who advised them on how to get the 'robotics' correct so that the actors can move about and perform stunts in the armour. They even created special wheeled cabinets to house and transport the armour from their studio to the sets, something that later came in handy when vandals set fire to the film's set in Kolhapur in March. "We wanted the armour to be mobile and protected so we put them in cabinets with wheels. And since they were easily movable, theywere the only pieces to survive the fire," informs Vipul.

Harsheen Arora and Vipul Amar