BOMBAY TIMES (June 24, 2018)

After styling some of the top actresses in Bollywood over the years, Manish Malhotra is all set to design for the new crop of rising stars in the industry. While Manish has already been working on giving newcomers Janhvi Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan the perfect look for their films, he will also be designing for debutantes Ananya Panday, Tara Sutaria and Warina Hussain in the upcoming months.

The 51-year-old designer, whose label completes 30 years in July, has had an illustrious career spanning 28-years in the industry. Talking about styling Gen Y actresses, he says, “Whether it’s a youth-centric film like Student Of The Year 2 or a period drama like Kalank, I am working on different kinds of films. Whether it’s Janhvi for Dhadak, Sara for Simmba, Ananya and Tara for Student Of The Year 2 or Warina for Loveratri, I feel privileged and honoured to work with these young actresses.” Manish gives a lowdown on styling each actress...

Talking about his experience styling the current generation of actresses, Manish says, “Student Of The Year 2 is an entertaining film. It is quite different from the first one. While the first film was a glamorous one, in the second film, Ananya and Tara have been styled in a fun and relatable fashion. In Loveratri (romantic film), I have made sure that both Warina and Aayush Sharma (who play Gujaratis in the film) sport a young look.”

Manish who has at one point of time even styled the late Sridevi (mother of Janhvi Kapoor) says, “I have designed for Sridevi Ma’am and she was very dear to me. Janhvi was born in front of me and I have full faith in her talent and hard work. I am sure that she is going to turn out to be an incredible actress and someone who I will be very proud of.”

Talking about Janhvi’s look in Dhadak, Manish says that designing for a character which is based in Udaipur, Rajasthan, was not an easy task. He says, “Janhvi’s character is that of a rich minister’s daughter who lives in a very conservative house and her father is protective of her. Hence, the outfits for her had to be toned down. While the fabric, texture and colours were bold, we tried a lot of interesting mix of kurta with harem salwar, red waist coat, ivory mal mal ghagra and kalidars to get her look right in the film.” Adding to this, Manish says, “In the second half of the film, Janhvi’s character gets into a realistic mode and goes through several trials and tribulations, thus her dressing had to reflect the struggle. Her attires were kept modest to make the plot look believable.”

Manish who has not only made actresses look beautiful in their films over the years, but also during fashion weeks and fashion shows, catering to their wedding orders — he has managed to build a large client base all over the world. He says, “I have a huge store in Mumbai and in New Delhi. And over the years, I have seen a lot of people choose my brand of clothing because of the love that they have for the actresses and the characters that they have portrayed in Bollywood. My day is never an eight hour working day. I sometimes spend 12-16 crazy hours at work, so that I never lose that connect with movies and actors I have worked with for so many years.” Talking about his latest Bollywood projects, Manish says, “I have diverse films to work on soon. I have designed for Daisy Shah and Jacqueline Fernandez in Race 3. At the moment, I am working on Fanne Khan where I will be designing for Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.”