Dressing up the movies

So, what made Ashley Rebello jump from crooning tunes to designing clothes for the stars? Why did he stop working with Madhur Bhandarkar after doing most of his movies? What drives him? What inspires him? Patcy N asked him these and other questions, and this is what he had to say:

I always wanted to be a singer, never a designer. I had been singing for 10 years but, at the time, the pop scenario wasn't that great, which is why I couldn't pursue my dreams on that front. While doing this, I met Mansoor Khan through a common friend (actually Aamir's brother Faisal and Ashley are batch mates), who was making a film called Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander. Everybody used to come to me for style tips, so Mansoor suggested I work with him. And that's how I got into films, without any course or any background in design. The only thing I had done was work in a boutique while in college. To cut a long story short, the film clicked. Everybody liked the look and Pooja Bedi's red outfit was a rage. Nobody came to me for the next three years. I worked as a production assistant, and moved to an advertising firm, where I met Raveena Tandon and Sonali Bendre who were models at the time. When they entered the film industry, they asked me to design their clothes. I have now worked with everyone from Preity Zinta and Rani Mukerji, to Priyanka Chopra, Karisma Kapoor, Mallika Sherawat, Aishwarya Rai, Sushmita Sen, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and most newcomers.

It's hard work. Sometimes, scenes are changed overnight and you have to be prepared. I have lot of fabric and embroidery already, and my tailors work day and night. I love working under pressure. Stars don't throw tantrums because, most of the time, you become friends with them. Once, I walked to Priyanka's van and she began firing me, accusing me of coming late. I was on time though, and didn't know how to react. It happened to be April Fools' Day though! She eventually said she didn't mean to hurt me. She is a wonderful, sweet person.

Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander

It was a learning experience. I took Marilyn Monroe's famous pose for Pooja Bedi, switching the black for red. Pooja was very accommodating. She was young and new and she knew exactly what suited her. Ayesha Jhulka loved overdressing, so we had to cut down her dressing. Her simplicity made this film one of her best. Aamir was wonderful. I wouldn't say he was difficult to work with because I knew him so I had that advantage. He doesn't really interfere. He just wants everything to be more character-based than hero-based. Working with him is a pleasure. I have also worked with him on Hum Hai Rahi Pyar Ke and Rangeela. On this film, my brief was everyone had to look young as they were all in college. It was difficult but they pulled it off fabulously. I am more of a costume designer than a fashion designer because, being a costume designer, you know what's good for the film. Being a fashion designer, you know what's good for the artist. As a newcomer, I faced a lot of problems I remember trying to get hundreds of red t-shirts and then printing them for the climax scene. I bought every single red t-shirt in the market given a specific price range, from (Mumbai areas) Malad to Churchgate. Then, we had to import cycle gears that weren't available here. It was all a working experience though.

Josh

This was also a wonderful experience. It was more of a Catholic-based movie and I was good at that sort of thing. I remember people telling me Aishwarya didn't look like Aishwarya at all. She looked like her character, which was an achievement. Then, the earring Shah Rukh Khan wore became a rage, as did the torn jeans. I got this assignment because of Mansoor Khan, as he liked my earlier work. I read the script and Mansoor told me he wanted a young, dynamic look that should be true to the character. He gave me the vision, I sketched the design and he approved it.

Chandni Bar

I have styled the costumes of everyone in the movie. It was so realistically done that people came and asked me what I had done in the movie. I thought that was a compliment. We didn't have actual bar dancers. We had actors doing those realistic roles. Making them look like dancers was a challenge. Also, making Tabu look like one of the girls so she wouldn't stand out at all. I got this assignment through Tabu. She is a dear friend of mine. Madhur made me read the script and was sure I would give it 100 per cent. He is the kind of person who trusts his technicians completely. He takes good actors and good technicians. He knows we will deliver and never interferes. It was wonderful when Tabu got a National Award. She thanked me in an interview too. Atul Kulkarni, Ananya Khare and Madhur Bhandarkar got National Awards too. I lost by four votes to Bhanu Athaiya for Lagaan. Naturally, I was disappointed at the time. The costume designing was not difficult here, it was challenging. But the conditions we shot in were difficult. We shot in alleys and strange places and dressing everybody was difficult.

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A wonderful movie because it gave me lot of recognition. Again, there were too many characters and to make them look convincing was difficult -- for example, to make Konkana look like a journalist, Sandhya look like an airhostess, Tara look like a wannabe actress and Bikram Saluja look like an actor. During the shoot, I sometimes had 40 artists to work on in two hours! The party scenes were the most difficult ones. There is high energy flowing and everybody is excited about the scene. That's when tempers run high. I was really looking forward to doing Corporate. I was upset with Madhur because he asked me to do the entire film. Initially it was Priyanka Chopra, then Aishwarya, and then, because of date problems, Bipasha came in. Madhur then told me I could do the entire film accept for Bipasha, who had asked for her own designer Rocky. I understand that even a Rocky would like to do serious films once in a while. I told Madhur I was sorry and had to turn it down. The whole look of the movie wouldn't have been same and that was not acceptable to me at all.

I think it is Bipasha's loss. It is strange because she once told me that if she were to get a movie like Chandni Bar, she would definitely like to work with me. I was really miffed with her. I thought it was uncalled for, considering she knew the equation I had with Madhur Bhandarkar.

Fiza

I did almost the whole movie, accept for Hrithik Roshan's character. First off, getting Karisma Kapoor to deglamourise was really difficult, because she is confident with make-up on and this movie demanded a character with no make-up. I had to give her that emotional support all the time. I gave her a simple salwaar kameez. Even Mrs. Bachchan would laugh and ask me where I got the outfit. She was very sweet and wonderful to work with. There were never any complaints because they knew I was doing a professional job. I think Sushmita looked the best she has ever looked in her career, in the song Mehboob Mere. I think this particular song is my best work. As for an entire film, Chandni Bar is one of my best. The director of Fiza, Khalid Mohammed, was very clear about what he wanted. He gave me a lot of references in pictures and showed me people from different localities -- how they dress and what they wear. He was very helpful. He doesn't interfere but gives you a lot of feedback. The only difficulties I faced were between the two heroines. They would never get along with each other so it was difficult managing. Luckily, they didn't have scenes together. For Sushmita's costume, he told me the song should look spectacular. I had no budget constraints. Khalid loved it. He was in awe. And (cinematographer) Santosh Sivan thought I was a genius. My forthcoming movies are Pyar Ke Side Effects with Mallika Sherawat and Rahul Bose. Mallika has a contemporary western look as the girl next-door -- not overtly sexy, and very likeable. The other movie is with Ayesha Takia, Shaadi Se Pehle, directed by Satish Kaushik.