Jodha Akbar : Music Review - Page 5

tt OT LONG ago, Bollywood costume designers had to work all night to produce the clothes needed for the next day's shoot. Then fashion happened to India, and a de- signer's role came down to creating a look for a character and buying clo- thes off the rack. That works with to- day's films, but it has never and will never work when it comes to period films. Ask Ashutosh Gowarikar, pro- ducer and director of JodhaaAkbar. He knows this only too well. BACK TO SCHOOL Gowarikar spent two years in re- search, studying the literature, paint- ings, architecture and fashion of the 16th century So he knew he needed a designer who would pay similar at- tention to the costumes for his Aish- warya Rai-Hrithik Roshan starrer "This story needed someone who knew the fine line between fashion designing and costume designing. Neeta Lulla came to mind right away," he says. Lulla, who won the President's Award for costumes in 2002 for her work in Devdas, and Anna Singh, who won a National Award for her work in Akbar Khan's Taj Mahal -An Eternal Love Story, are famous for their skills in period as well as commercial films. "Today, commercial films require a stylist (or designer) with a great sense of coordinating garments to create a look. But for a period film, the costume designer must have an innate sense of research and be able to put together garments that are ex- actly from the era the film is based in," explains Lulla. The work is tremendous, because you don't only design for the lead pair; you have to clothe the entire cast in authentic costumes. "In a contem- porary film you can ask the extras to bring their own clothes. But in a peri- od film you have to outfit everyone," says designer Ni- harika Khan, who worked on Sudhir Mishra's Khoya Khoya Chand, a film set in the '50s, and Rang Rasiya, Ketan Mehta's film on painter Raja Ravi Varma. You also have to take care while us- ing zips, hooks and buttons that didn't exist in the period you're working on. You can use them, says Anna Singh, because zips, for instance, give a good fit, but you must disguise them. "In Taj Mahal, I cov- ered the zips with waistcoats or long coats. We also dis- guised bras with lining inside the garment," says Singh, who produced around 1,500 cos- tumes for Taj Mahal. SHE'S GOT THE LOOK To create a true-to-time look, cos- tume designers work closely with the art director and hair and make- up teams, says Khan, because the en- tire look is important, not just the clothes. "For Khoya..., I also spoke to my mother and mother-in-law, Wahee- da Rahman, Sharmila Tagore and Dilip Kumar to get a sense of that time," says Khan. The designer also gets support from the production team. "For in- stance," says Gowariker: "Through our research, we learned about the colour palette of the time. We shared this with Neeta. To my surprise, she was already well versed with the era." Even then, just planning and exe- cuting the costumes for Jodhaa Ak- bar took a whole year Not surpris- ing, because the story dealt with two cultures Nhighal and Rajput. Lulla had to create approximately 2,800 costumes in brocades, silks, mulls, nets and pure matt fabrics. Compare this with the 25-35 outfits each needed for the lead pair in a commercial film. The challenge also comes with the fact that in period films, designers have to create authentic accessories too. "In a 16th century story, jewellery, armour, weapons and additional ac- cessories go hand in hand with the costumes," says Gowariker "So there were charts and charts and charts!" Ensuring authenticity means painstaking attention to detail. As Khan found out during the making of Khoya... The designer realised that the actresses needed to change the way they walked for an authentic look. "They had to lose the masculin- ity of the walk that comes with wearing trousers," she says. MONEY MATTERS With all this detailed research, the budget for costumes in a period film is large: about three times that of a commercial film considering the rich fabrics, embroidery, detailing and effort involved. Says Gowariker, "Sets, costume and property are critical factors for a film of this nature. So the budgets have to give importance to these three depart- ments. I had around Rs 40 crore to make the film and Sunita (his wife, the producer) managed fit into that budget a true-to-scale Agra Fort, Amer Palace, cannons, animals, crowds and, of course, the wardrobe." But the budgets are never lavish enough for real jewellery Instead, designers find substitutes: silver is given a gold polish and Swarovski crystals act as diamonds. That, however, won't keep you from gasping when you see Aishwarya Rai's elaborate neck piece in the wed- ding scene in Jodhaa Akbar because it certainly looks like the real thing. brunchletters@hindustantimes.com AUCTION OPTION Hollywood has a long tradition of selling film memorabilia. But what happens to the sarces, /chengas, cholis, uniforms, war imple- monts and armour of period films in india? Unfortunately, cos- tumes are often ban- ished to the production cupboard. But Ashutosh Gowariker hopes to preserve the Jodhaa Akbar costumes for otornity. For starters, they will be dis- played at theatres scrooning the filrn.