Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, known for his larger-than-life depictions on celluloid, has ditched his frequent collaborator Anju Modi and teamed up with Delhi-based designers Rimple and Harpreet Narula for his much-anticipated magnum opus Padmavati.
Starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor in pivotal roles, the film is touted to be a dramatized account of the 1303 siege of the Chittor fort in Rajasthan.
As much as the viewers are excited about its story line, the looks of the characters have also been a point of curiosity for many. Keeping in mind Padmavati’s Sinhalese origin, Deepika’s aesthetic look has been carefully designed. “A lot of elements incorporated in Deepika's look are taken from Sri Lankan ethnic costumes”.
While the inspiration for Shahid, who plays the character of Deepika’s husband Rana Rawal Ratan Singh, has been drawn from the ones renowned in the 13th century in Chittor, Ranveer’s character has a lot of Turkish influences, given Allaudin Khilji’s background.
Bhansali has previously worked with designer Anju Modi in Ramleela and Bajirao Mastani – both of which proved to be a visual delight and won many accolades for costume designing. Considering that the ensemble cast is almost the same, can we expect any similarities in the costumes? “Not really as Padmawati was the 13th century Sinhalese princess who went on to become the Queen of Chittor, it is altogether a different period and regional setting so the clothes also reflect the same”, says the designer duo.
“During the initial stages of the project, Mr. Bhansali and his team took us through the script in order to understand the flow of the narrative and nuances of each character as the garments have to reflect the same”, adds the designer duo.
Both of them indulged in intensive research before starting the work. They went through ancient traveller’s accounts, frequented their visits to the Calico and Jaipur museums and also delved into their personal archives for references.
When asked about the fabrics and designing, the couturiers said, “Since 13th century India was not touched by sericulture, we have avoided using silk or any man-made fabrics, instead of going in for organic cottons and muls and also used only those decorative arts and techniques that were prevalent in those times”.
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