Kyunki television's just got hotter!

Kyunki… television's just got hotter!

Be it the way in which the saree is draped, or the pattern of bindis, fashion on television is making its own style statements

SHIVLI TYAGI (INPUTS BY JHUMARI NIGAM-MISRA)

Move over fashion weeks and big designer labels. For, the homemaker would rather follow the style trends being sported by Saloni, Bani, Suman, Mohini or Kaveri. The endless saas-bahu sagas have not only managed to enter the Indian households because of their long and complicated storylines, but also because these are the easiest and cheapest ways for viewers to know what is 'in' in the context of fashion. Alka Sibal, a 33-year-old homemaker, makes it a point to keep a track of what new style trends are being sported by her favourite tele characters. "I love the stylish blouses, skirts, salwar suits and saris that actors like Urvashi Dholakia, Roshini Chopra and Rakshanda Khan sport," she says.
The craze for following the fashion trends of these TV stars is so much that many shopowners are even selling saris and dress material named after these stars. "Clients do inquire about particular designs that they see on TV. So, we too try and get the same stuff for them from Mumbai. Now, many characters have become so popular that we have suits named like Bani designs or Maahi chaniya choli (of Maayka... fame)," says Lalbhai who owns a garment shop.
Now that producers know that the 'look' counts a lot, things have changed for fashion stylist of teleserials. Nim Sood, fashion stylist for Ekta Kapoor's serials says, "Fashion styling of the characters wasn't very important earlier. Today the budgets allocated for serials have gone up, and the producers are also paying attention to detailing."
Today, a lot of effort is put into the look of each and every character. Stylists look into the requirements of the script, the character and the location. Fashion designer Ashley Rebello, who had done the styling for Malaika Arora Khan in Sony's reality show Jhalak Dikhla Jaa, says, "Fashion and style on TV have really come of age. And, a lot of actors are showing interest in their looks. In fact, television has successfully brought fashion to homes." Of course, the television fashion stylists are often criticised for the flamboyant outfits the characters wear in everyday life on screen. How do they take this criticism? "We too know that no one at home wears such heavy designer saris, but then this is something that the viewer would love to wear for important functions. And what we do is like 'home marketing'. Viewers don't have to open magazines or check out designer shops. They get it all in the living rooms," says Sood. And what do the stars have to say? "Styling in television is definitely huge.. Fambo, my stylist, works closest to my style, but then it also depends largely on the character that I'm playing," says Rakshanda Khan. So now before going to shop, just surf the channels.

MAKING A STATEMENT: (clockwise) Reena Kapoor, Prachi Desai and Rakshanda Khan

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