MUMBAI MIRROR (March 26, 2014)

For Shyam Benegal’s 10-part series on the making of the Indian constitution, Samvidhaan, which airs on Rajya Sabha TV, costume designer Pia Benegal underwent meticulous research based on archived photographs, newspaper clippings, documentaries and also interviews on All India Radio.

 After all, the task was to recreate historical figures including the likes of Dr. Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel.

 When informed about a project, Pia quickly formed a team consisting of two assistants, four stylists and six tailors, who began working on the project six months prior to the shoot.

 The fabrics she chose included cotton, linen, khaki and wool. “I got the shock of my life when I was told that there will be 264 characters in all. Later, they reduced it to 165,” she says, adding, “For instance, Gandhi’s costume was easier to design as having done it in the past, I knew just the place to source the dhoti, the glasses and his wrist watch from,” she smiles.

 However, the most troublesome one was designing the look for Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Narendra Jha). “Jinnah was extremely particular about his wardrobe. He was a dapper guy who wore fine suits, sourced from London, which had broad stripes, as well as crisp bandhgalas. Now where would I find those? We get only narrow ones these days,” she laments, adding, “My search, which also involved dabbling with some Italian fabrics, ended at a local shop of an Indian brand!”

 The ideology behind the designs for Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (Dalip Tahil) was similar too. “For Nehru, we avoided dark colours, sticking to light and vibrant hues, while keeping the accessories minimal and ministerial,” she reveals. While for Hansa Mehta’s (Ila Arun) character, a special handloom saree, bearing the colours orange, white and green was made. “And to be historically accurate, we ensured she wore it in the traditional seedha pala style.”

 Sachin Khedekar, who plays the part of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, had to look fuller as he had lost a lot of weight and was reluctant to put on. “So we used a lot of layers while sticking to darker hues like brown, beige and grey to match his outlook,” she reveals.