Showing posts with label Bhanu Athaiya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bhanu Athaiya. Show all posts
From Ranbir Kapoor’s screen-worn jacket to Mogambo’s uniform, the afterlife of Bollywood’s material history
10:37 AM
In the absence of a formal museum, iconic artifacts — from Ranbir Kapoor’s screen-worn jacket to Mogambo’s uniform — are recirculated and stored across an unofficial ecosystem of godowns, trunks, and prop houses
Nisrin Saria (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 12, 2026)
A yellow Ambassador glides onto the red carpet. Flashbulbs erupt as Shanti Priya (Deepika Padukone) steps out in blush pink silk, her wave choreographed for stardom. Moments later, the fabric catches Om’s sleeve, setting in motion one of Hindi cinema’s most cherished meet-cutes. Years earlier, audiences had travelled to an altogether different world, where Helen danced to Mehbooba Mehbooba inside a cave lit by flickering torches. One film recreated the glamour of 1970s Bombay. The other conjured a ravine that never existed. Both persuaded millions that these worlds were real.
If you’ve ever visited the Harry Potter studio outside London, wandered through Warner Bros’ archives in Hollywood or admired K-pop exhibitions in Seoul, you know some entertainment industries preserve their history behind glass. Bollywood, for some reason, has never done so. Here, the cave comes apart plank by plank, the palace becomes plywood again, costumes disappear into garment bags and props are counted, labelled and packed into trucks. Still almost nothing is truly discarded.
“Most costumes and many props are hired,” says veteran filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar. “You use them for the shoot, return them afterwards and pay the rental.” Furniture, crockery, chandeliers, doors, windows and architectural fragments all begin another journey once the cameras stop rolling. Every item is checked against an inventory, packed away and stored until another script calls it back into service.
Ad filmmaker and photographer Sunhil Sippy says production designers often become collectors by default. “Many own prop houses themselves, or they’ve spent years building collections from Chor Bazaar and antique markets.” It’s not unusual for things from their own homes and studios to even find a way into frames. “For close-ups, I’d often bring something from my own house, an object I lived with every day because I knew I wouldn’t find it in a rental house. The right object gives a frame its truth.”
Cement brains and books
Not every prop returns to a rental house. Some end up at Many Many Things, a Versova prop studio run by production designers Shaira Kapoor and Dhara Jain, whose work covers Gully Boy, Bombay Velvet and The Archies. Over the years, productions have left behind what many would see as a museum-worthy collection of collectibles: a miniature red vintage car sourced for a Lays commercial featuring Ranbir Kapoor, gold bricks made for a smuggling sequence in Bombay Velvet, even two cement brains created as paperweights for a radio station set in Tumhari Sulu.
“We never planned to start a prop house,” says Kapoor. “Some pieces stayed back after productions, others came from family, and many were simply too special to let go.” Every object is catalogued, barcoded and tracked before heading out to its next assignment.
That, they insist, is how Bollywood has always worked. Doors, windows, plywood, lights, furniture and fabrics are dismantled, stored and reinvented. “We pride ourselves on making the same object look completely different,” Kapoor says.
“A new lampshade, fresh upholstery or different artwork can transform it.” Nothing illustrates that better than Zoya Akhtar’s The Archies. The pair sourced nearly 10,000 vintage books, along with vintage cookware and utensils, for Betty’s (Khushi Kapoor) home from Mumbai, Bengaluru, Ooty, Bangkok, and international Etsy sellers. Once filming ended, most were sold on. “We don’t know exactly where they went,” Jain says. “But they’re still in the ecosystem. They’ve simply moved to another shelf.”
History in mulmul
While a handful of props are preserved, Kakkar says that remains the exception. “Commercials work on rentals. Keeping elaborate sets after a shoot isn’t practical. The economics just don’t support preserving every unique creation.”
Costumes have had an even more uncertain fate. Academy Award-winning costume designer Bhanu Athaiya treated preservation as second nature, says her daughter, Radhika Gupta. “She never folded old saris or fabrics. She rolled them, wrapped them in mulmul cloth and stored them in steel trunks.”
Even that could not protect them from the weather and termites that infested them. Athaiya began designing in 1953, long before climate-controlled storage. Studio lights generated intense heat, makeup stained fabrics and colours faded under harsh lamps. “The costumes didn’t survive very well,” Gupta says, “More importantly, they belonged to the production houses, not to her.”
Until the 1970s, few studios archived costumes. Raj Kapoor was among the exceptions, though many garments, including costumes from Mera Naam Joker, were later lost in the RK Studios fire. Gupta still remembers actors arriving at their home to try on costumes as tailors and embroiderers worked around them. “My mother was a director’s designer,” she says. Directors described the character and mood of a scene, and Athaiya translated them into attire, even using colours in the black-and-white era to create tonal contrasts on screen.
Not quite Narnia
Looking back, Gupta believes preserving costumes is about far more than saving clothes. “As Indians, we don’t really have a strong culture of preservation,” she says. “We tend to discard things and take them for granted.” Conservation, she adds, requires time, expertise and sustained funding.
Some of Athaiya’s surviving work has reached the public through the People of Mumbai exhibition at CSMVS, where costumes, sketches and archival material traced both her career and the city’s cinematic journey. “Bhanu Athaiya became a natural choice because her journey from the Sir JJ School of Art to costume design reflects that evolution,” says the exhibition’s architect, Nandini Somaya.
Displaying the collection required a careful process. Costumes were protected under acrylic sheets, while larger garments—including the landmark sari worn in Gandhi—were mounted on custom plastic supports and enclosed in protective cases to prevent stress on the fragile fabric. But such examples remain rare.
Madhav Agasti, who tailored costumes for more than 350 films, including Mr India and Andaz Apna Apna, says costumes usually remained with producers once filming ended. Mogambo’s military-inspired uniform, he believes, is still with Boney Kapoor. Lead costumes are never really reused, Kakkar explains. Designed for one actor and one character, they often end up with producers, collectors or members of the crew. Sometimes they become personal keepsakes. Shivam Hingorani, an assistant director on Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, still treasures the brown AllSaints jacket worn by Ranbir Kapoor. “The moment I saw it, I knew I wanted it.” And once production wrapped up director Ayan Mukerji handed it to him.
And, thus, Bollywood’s best stories survive in fragments: a sari wrapped in mulmul, a villain’s uniform in a producer’s cupboard, or a prop on someone’s shelf. They may never draw museum crowds, but for the person who recognizes one from the screen, those ordinary objects still possess the power to collapse time, carrying them back to the moment the story first came alive.
When I saw Lagaan's first cut, I realized what a masterpiece it was-Javed Akhtar
9:36 AM
Twenty-five years later, Aamir Khan, Ashutosh Gowariker, Javed Akhtar & AR Rahman reflect on the journey of making the Oscar-nominated classic Lagaan
Debarati S Sen (BOMBAY TIMES; May 28, 2026)
Twenty-five years after Lagaan: Once Upon a Time In India changed the landscape of Hindi cinema, its creators came together at Mumbai’s Mehboob Studios on Monday evening for a nostalgic conversation about the film.
The panel discussion, moderated by Meiyang Chang, featured actor-producer Aamir Khan, director Ashutosh Gowariker, lyricist Javed Akhtar and composer A R Rahman, who reflected on the enormous risks, doubts and creative ambition behind the film.
Released in 2001, Lagaan, a period sports drama set in a drought-stricken village under British rule, earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, introducing Indian mainstream cinema to a global audience.
FROM DOUBT TO A CULT CLASSIC
Opening the evening, Aamir admitted that no one involved with the film imagined its legacy would endure for decades. “We never thought people would remember this film for 25 years. At that time, we didn’t even know whether the film would work or whether audiences would like it. It feels exciting that something we made so many years ago is still relevant.”
Calling the gathering the first official event marking the film’s silver jubilee, Aamir added that the team remains overwhelmed by the affection the film continues to receive.
A STORY BORN OUT OF FAILURE AND FAITH
For Ashutosh, Lagaan emerged during a difficult phase in his career. The filmmaker recalled that after two unsuccessful films, he wanted to create something entirely original and emotionally stirring.
He said the idea began with seven unlikely heroes, men burdened with differences and conflict who eventually unite for a common cause. As the screenplay evolved, so did his dream team. “Only Aamir was in my mind for the role,” Gowariker shared, adding, “Along with that, mere mind mein yeh zaroor tha ki iss film ka music A R Rahman ko karna chahiye aur lyrics Javed Akhtar ka hona chahiye, and the entire HOD list including Bhanu Athaiya ji for costumes.” But convincing Aamir proved difficult.
‘BAHUT BURI KAHANI HAI YAAR’
One of the evening’s most entertaining moments came when Aamir revisited his now-famous rejection of Lagaan. The actor revealed that when Gowariker first narrated the premise - villagers playing cricket against the British to avoid paying tax - he was convinced the story would fail.
“I told Ashu, ‘Bahut buri kahani hai yaar. This story does not make sense to me,’” Aamir recalled. Three months later, Gowariker returned with a completed script and requested a full narration of three-four hours. Aamir admitted he agreed to listen with “zero expectations”, believing he would reject the film once again. Instead, he found himself completely absorbed.
From the moment he started narrating, I was hooked,” Aamir said. “When the narration ended, I was gobsmacked. I had never heard such a brilliant script before.”
Even then, the actor hesitated. Producing the film himself felt like a terrifying prospect, especially after watching his father struggle as a producer in the industry. “Mujhe der saal laga before I said yes to Ashu for Lagaan,” he said.
ON SEEING THE FIRST CUT, I REALIZED IT WAS A MASTERPIECE: JAVED AKHTAR
Javed Akhtar confessed that he too believed the project was commercially risky, perhaps impossibly so for its time. He recalled feeling protective towards Aamir, whom he had known since childhood, having written Yaadon Ki Baaraat, one of the young actor’s earliest screen appearances. "Maine socha agar main nahi samjhunga toh inhe kaun samjhayega?" he said, with the wry warmth of a man recounting his own spectacular misjudgement.
“I felt this film was a perfect list of things that would never make a film work in those days. Uss zamane belief tha ki period films don’t work. Next was cricket ek film-friendly game nahi hai, after all Aamir’s Awwal Number had flopped. Heroes wearing dhoti – that wouldn't work in a 2000 film, box office nahi manega. Even my Gaabar Singh decades ago was seen wearing pants. And throughout the film, characters cricket seekh rahein hain. I was worried for them, ye kya film hai.”
He said Lagaan seemed to contain every element considered “unmarketable” in Hindi cinema then: a period setting, cricket as the central theme, heroes in dhotis, and a narrative built around learning a sport rather than conventional action or romance. “I called then both and bahut samjhaya ki yeh film na banaye. But, bahut khushi ki baat hai ki they did not listen to me and went ahead and made the film. And I decided ki main apna kaam imaandaari se karunga, picture jaisa bhi ho, gaane acche hone chahiye. When I saw the first cut, I realized what a masterpiece it was. I am very proud of this film.”
RAHMAN ON CREATING A TIMELESS SCORE
For A R Rahman, the challenge lay in ensuring the music matched the film’s epic emotional scale. The composer said he approached Lagaan with the intention of making its soundtrack timeless, which led him to collaborate with legendary singers Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle alongside Javed Akhtar’s lyrics. Rahman also shared a moving memory from the film’s background score sessions, explaining how he experimented with hybrid orchestration techniques because certain instruments were unavailable in India at the time.
Describing one recording session, he recalled seeing Aamir sitting silently in tears after hearing the music. “He asked me, ‘What have you done to my movie?’ - in a good way,” Rahman said with a smile. “That was the first time I saw the birth of a producer who was so emotionally invested in every aspect of the film.”
Why period drama costumes are frontrunners for awards
8:12 AM
Nachiket Barve & Mahesh Sherla’s National Film Award for Best Costume Designer for Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior is the latest example of period drama costumes trumping contemporary contenders. Here’s why the genre is a favourite with juries
Divya Kaushik (BOMBAY TIMES; July 27, 2022)
Last week, when it was announced that Nachiket Barve and Mahesh Sherla won the National Film Award in the Best Costume Designer category for Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, though designer Nachiket was surprised, the win was not totally unexpected. He shared with us that creating costumes for a period drama is a laborious and time-consuming process that involves excessive research and he’s happy that the honour recognized the hard work that went into it.
A look at the past awards in the Best Costume Designer category reveals that period dramas often manage to impress the jury. And the reason isn’t just that the genre lends itself to grandeur, but also that period dramas help create awareness about history and culture, and in the revival of crafts and textiles. Three costume designers who have been recipients of the top honour – Neeta Lulla, Anna Singh and Nachiket Barve – share their experiences of creating costumes for period dramas.
‘PERIOD DRAMAS & COSTUMES CREATE A STRONG CULTURAL CONNECT WITH THE AUDIENCE’
Costume designers say that over the years everyone – be it cinegoers, critics or juries – has noticed how period dramas help in creating awareness about history and the art and craft traditions of a particular era or a place. And costumes play an important role in this.
Neeta Lulla, who has won four National Film Awards for Devdas, Lamhe, Jodhaa Akbar and Balgandharva, says, “In my journey, I am grateful that I am the only designer who has got four national awards. Two of these – Jodhaa Akbar and Marathi film Balgandharva – have been period dramas. There is no denying the fact that a period drama and the research that goes into recreating a particular era on screen create a strong cultural connect with the audience. The story becomes a medium to tell the audience about the culture of the place and a particular time period. And costumes are an important part of that story.”
Adds costume designer Anna Singh, who won the National Film Award for Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story (2005), “I feel that period dramas winning the National Film Award in different categories is also the recognition of the fact that they help in spreading awareness on history and our culture, while introducing youngsters to our heritage, the lifestyle of people in the past, etc. Therefore, it is important that research be done carefully for such projects. Even for minor details, factual accuracy should be maintained.”
‘THE RECOGNITION AND AWARDS SHED LIGHT ON THE RESEARCH AND HARD WORK THAT GOES INTO CREATING COSTUMES FOR PERIOD DRAMAS’
While designing for any other movie requires sourcing fabrics and jewellery to suit its story, costume designing for a period film has no scope of factual inaccuracy and it often also involves recreation of fabrics and textiles that may not even be available anymore. “When I was doing Taj Mahal, the director had original paintings and actual portraits that were a very valuable input and served as a reference point, but the challenge was to recreate that look with what was available. Certain fabrics like kinkhwab, very common in the Mughal era, were not available. Our shoot location was in Jodhpur and we ended up finding carpet weavers in the area and set up a workshop to weave the fabric which was used to create costumes for the movie. So there is a lot of micro work that goes into creation of costumes for period dramas and a lot of research. It is thanks to these awards and recognitions for costume designing in films that we get to talk about this elaborate process,” says Anna.
Nachiket says that he used 400-year-old jewellery moulds and got in touch with the royal family that still had them to create designs for Tanhaji. “When you are designing for any other film, you have the option of sourcing the material and creating the look, which is more like styling. But a period film only requires designing, because everything has to be created from scratch – be it the pagdi or the armour. So, you have to recreate those keeping in mind your research about what kind of material was available then. In Tanhaji, I have worked with natural dyes from plants and minerals, as those were used at that time.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WHEN BHANU ATHAIYA WON THE OSCAR FOR BEST COSTUME DESIGN FOR GANDHI…
Bhanu Athaiya won an Oscar for Best Costume Design for Gandhi in 1983 On April 11, 1983, Bhanu Athaiya took home the Oscar for Best Costume Design in Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi at the 55th annual Academy Awards.
In her acceptance speech, Athaiya said, “It’s too good to believe. Thank you Academy and thank you, Sir Richard Attenborough, for focusing the world’s attention on India.”
Bhanu had worked as a costume designer for over 100 films including Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Guide, Ganga Jumna, Amrapali, Waqt, Teesri Manzil, Mera Naam Joker, Chandni, and the Oscar-nominated film Lagaan.
“Costume designing is about taking the audience on a journey to the era being recreated,” Athaiya was quoted as saying in 2001. “It is about hard research, imagination and having a vision.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AWARDS RECOGNISE HOW MOVIE COSTUMES HELP REVIVE TEXTILE AND CRAFT: NACHIKET BARVE
Sharing an example of how some period films have resulted in revival of textiles and also employment for craftsmen, Nachiket says, “Films become a huge influence in popular culture and our understanding of crafts. After Tanhaji, many women came to me and said can you do these sarees for us, or can you do this jewellery for us. So it revives people’s interest, educates them and creates a context of cultural revival. There are hundreds of people involved in the creation of these costumes, ranging from sari drapers to weavers, dyers, leather craft workers, and metal workers. A period film generates so much work for craftspeople.”
IFFI 2021 to pay homage to 19 Indian & 9 international stars
8:15 AM
Niharika Lal (BOMBAY TIMES; January 16, 2021)
The 51st edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will pay homage to 19 Indian film personalities and nine international personalities, who we lost last year, for their contribution to cinema with the screening of their films. The number of films in the homage section is the highest in recent years – last year, IFFI paid tribute to 13 Indian personalities.
An IFFI official says, “Unfortunately, last year we lost many geniuses from the world of cinema. We have curated the homage section to pay tribute to these geniuses, who immensely contributed to cinema. IFFI acknowledges their work, and we have planned a screening of their films.”
Among the films that will be screened are Irrfan’s Paan Singh Tomar, Rishi Kapoor’s Bobby and Sushant Singh Rajput’s Kedarnath. These will have physical screenings in Goa. Sushant’s Chhichhore will also be screened at IFFI, in the Indian Panorama section.
INTERNATIONAL ARTISTES WILL BE REMEMBERED WITH THESE FILMS
Chadwick Boseman (right) – 42
Ivan Passer – Cutter’s Way
Goran Paskaljevic – Dev Bhoomi
Allen Daviau – The Extra-Terrestrial
Max Von Sydow – Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Sir Alan Parker – Midnight Express
Kirk Douglas – Paths Of Glory
Ennio Morricone – The Hateful Eight
Olivia De Havilland – The Heiress
--------------------------------------
A retrospective of Satyajit Ray films at IFFI
This year, IFFI has organised a retrospective on Satyajit Ray — Classics of the Maestro, which will give cinephiles an opportunity to watch some of the works of Satyajit Ray in Goa from January 16-24. Five films which have been selected for the retrospective are Charulata (1964), Ghaire Baire (1984) Pather Panchali (1955), Sonar Kella (1974), Shatranj ke Khilari (1977). The opening film of the retrospective is Pather Panchali. The film revolves around the child protagonist Apu in 1920s Bengal. It is based on a Bengali novel of the same name, which was written by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay. Pather Panchali won several international awards, including the Best Human Document at Cannes in 1956. Satyajit Ray was born on May 2, 1921 in Kolkata, and as part of centenary celebrations, these films have been selected.
The 51st edition of IFFI was rescheduled from November to this January.
The dress-saree in Brahmachari set a fashion trend-Mumtaz
8:15 AM
As told to Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 16, 2020)
I remember Bhanu Athaiya as an intelligent and sophisticated lady who always looked serene and was never in a rush. She used to make mannequins of the actresses she designed for and tried the costumes on them before coming home for the final dress trial. Then, she’d come with her tailor and spend an hour watching the fitting closely. If she spotted even a slight fold, she’d immediately point it out to the masterji and tell him to pin it up and smoothen it.
She was one of the most dedicated designers I’ve worked with and my favourite, which is why I would always insist on her even though she was the most expensive at the time.
Not every producer could afford her, but many obliged because they knew I was comfortable with her. She designed my costumes in films like Patthar Ke Sanam, Brahmachari, Bandhan, and Roop Tera Mastana. For the latter, she charged Rs 5 lakh, an exorbitant sum back then, but she did not repeat a single costume and deserved every rupee she got.
I never liked to dance in sarees because I was afraid I would trip and fall. But for the evergreen Brahmachari chartbuster, “Aaj Kal Tere Mere Pyaar Ke Charche”, I was told I had to wear a saree and we sat together for an hour-and-a-half, with her sketching various designs on her pad till she finally came up with a dress-saree. It could be zipped up once I wriggled into it and near the zip was the pallu, which we brought in front and clipped on. It was just perfect and thanks to her inventive creativity, I could do that energetic song and the costume went on to set a fashion trend. She was just amazing and I was so proud when my favourite designer went on to win an Oscar.
Costume designer Bhanu Athaiya, India’s first Oscar winner, dies at 91
8:12 AM
Avijit Ghosh (THE TIMES OF INDIA; October 16, 2020)
Bhanu Rajopadhye Athaiya, a colossus of costume design, who became India’s first Oscar winner for her work in Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi (1982), and whose chic couture in blockbusters such as Waqt (1965) blazed fashion trends, passed away in Mumbai on Thursday. She was 91.
Her daughter Radhika Gupta told TOI on phone that Athaiya died in her sleep. “In 2012, she was diagnosed with a brain tumour. She had been bedridden since 2016 when her right side got paralysed,” she said.
Athaiya was cremated at Chandanwadi.
In the foreword to her autobiography, The Art Of Costume Design (2010), Attenborough described her as “the revered doyenne” of costume designers. “It took me 17 long years to set up Gandhi, my dream film, and just 15 minutes to make up my mind that Bhanu Athaiya was the right person (for the job),” he wrote.
The Kolhapur-born costume designer’s career, spanning 56 years and over 100 films, reads like a catalogue of Bollywood’s best and biggest: Shri 420, Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Sangam, Guide, Waqt, Ek Duuje Ke Liye, Nikaah, Lagaan.
“According to Yash ji (filmmaker Yash Chopra), girls in Delhi bought movie tickets for their tailors so that could see the designs and replicate them,” wrote Athaiya, who was married to lyricist Satyendra (Anhonee, Naubahar, Radha Krishna). He passed away in 2004.
It is sad that Athaiya didn’t receive the Padma Shri. “Being a proud Indian, she was very disappointed that her own country didn’t recognize her,” Gupta said.
Athaiya’s work reflects her versatility, her ability to painstakingly authenticate any period or people. For Lagaan, she framed the 19th century colonial India’s look. Always eager to learn and inquisitive, she was dedicated to her work. On Guru Dutt’s advice, she visited Calcutta's old mansions for Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam and travelled to the desert of Rajasthan for Sunil Dutt’s Reshma Aur Shera.
Athaiya’s father was a self-taught artist. Books on Leonardo Da Vinci, Rembrandt and other European painters lay scattered in her home. “They were my comic books,” she told this reporter in an interview in 2010. Her arts teacher noticed her gift for painting. She earned her diploma and a gold medal at JJ School of Arts in 1952. She exhibited her paintings alongside F N Souza, M F Husain and S H Raza.
But slowly she moved away from painting, started working as an illustrator in fashion magazines and then opened her own boutique. That’s where she met heroine Kamini Kaushal and launched into designing outfits for movies beginning 1953 (Shahenshah and Aas).
In 2012, this reporter spoke to her again, this time on the phone. It was about returning the Oscar. The statuette was couriered in a special container to its original owner, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Los Angeles. “I wanted the trophy to be safe in future and in the right hands.”
----------------------
Faheem Ruhani (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 16, 2020)
Thirty-seven years ago, on April 11, 1983, she made history at the 55th Annual Academy Awards, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, when she won the Best Costume Design Award for Sir Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi. Athaiya earned India its first Oscar statuette, sharing the win with her British counterpart, the late John Mollo. She held the distinction for 26 years, until 2009, when A R Rahman won for Best Original Score and Best Song, Resul Pookutty for Best Sound Mixing, and Gulzar for Best Song. However, she continues to be the only Indian woman to win an Oscar.
When Athaiya and Mollo received their nominations, Columbia Pictures decided it would be Athaiya who would go up on stage to receive the trophy, were they to win, because it was her work that defined a major portion of the film’s costumes. In December 2012, Athaiya returned her Oscar trophy to the Academy following the brain tumour diagnosis. At the time she had said, “I do not trust anyone in India to keep it. If Rabindranath Tagore’s Nobel medal could be stolen from Shantiniketan, what is the guarantee that my trophy would be safe? In India, no one values such things and we lack a tradition to preserve things”.
A true patron of arts, she had great regard for her contemporary, the late costume designer Mani J Rabadi. She admired Vidya Balan’s turn in The Dirty Picture and termed her to be a ‘classic Indian face’. She loved mangoes and would wait all year for summers to relish aamras. Once I visited her with some kheer and sabudana khichdi, which she really appreciated.
----------------------
Redefining the way fashion was consumed by the most elegant in Bollywood, late costume designer Bhanu Athaiya, who brought home the Academy Award for Gandhi, is remembered by contemporaries as a maverick
Upala KBR (MID-DAY; October 16, 2020)
In her memoir, The Art Of Costume Design, Bhanu Athaiya recalled being the only Indian on the sets of Richard Attenborough's 1982 film, Gandhi. Her job, as costume designer for the film's Indian characters, earned India its first Academy Award (and the only one bagged by an Indian woman).
While most pertinent, it was only one among an array of accolades earned by Athaiya, who passed away yesterday in her sleep at the age of 91. The veteran costume designer had apparently been bedridden for three years, and battling a tumour for eight, only years after she released her memoir, chronicling some of the most fascinating aspects of being part of the industry.
Credited for both, replicating attires (in a bid to authentically depict eras, and the society's castes and class), and redefining them (having invented the 'Mumtaz sari', complete with ready-made pleats), Athaiya is often aptly described as a "genius". "She was magical. I haven't had a better 'look' in any film," says Dimple Kapadia, whose character Reva was brought to life by Athaiya's apparels. "She was flawless. Lekin is set in the desert state of Rajasthan, but it wasn't a typical Rajasthani fabric that she used. It was a gorgeous cotton fabric. The character had to be established by using only one colour and without prints. But she still created the look beautifully, making sketches, and doing a lot of research. Apart from listening to the brief, she always interpreted characters and created costumes accordingly," says the actor of Lekin, which earned Athaiya a National Film Award for Best Costume Design.
The fact that Athaiya was a trendsetter finds credence in the testimony of her contemporary, designer Xerxes Bhathena, who draws our attention to the ubiquitous Amrapali outfit, first made popular by Athaiya in Vyjayanthimala's Amrapali (1966). "After that, it was in every film, including those of Sridevi and Hema ji [Malini].
Nobody knew what Amrapali was until Bhanu defined it. She was such an exquisite perfectionist! Apart from costumes, she would carry jewellery in one bag, and sketches in another. We worked together in Sultanat [1986]. I was designing Sridevi's costumes, and she, for the rest of the cast. She came to me and said, 'Xerxes, thodi toh history ko daad [respect] diya karo.' I said kaun dekhta hai? I have to make the actress look glamorous. But, she was a perfectionist who would research immensely. She has dressed almost all the leading ladies of the 60s, 70s, and 80s," he says, adding that the diamond-studded costume designed by Athaiya for Zeenat Aman in Satyam Shivam Sundaram is preserved at R K Studios. Guru Dutt's CID (1956) was the former fashion illustrator's stepping stone to Bollywood. In a career spanning nearly five decades and over 100 films, she worked with filmmakers like Raj Kapoor, Kamal Amrohi, Yash Chopra, and B R Chopra.
The designer with Ben Kinsgely on the sets of Gandhi. Pics /Instagram
Athaiya designed the costumes of Swades
Ashutosh Gowariker's Lagaan earned her a National Film Award
National award winning designers to discuss nuances of filmi costumes at IFFI
8:04 AM
Divya Kaushik (BOMBAY TIMES; November 16, 2019)
At the 50th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), which begins on November 20, three National Award-winning costume designers will discuss the nuances of making costumes for films and will share how much research goes into giving characters a certain look. Actress and costume designer Dolly Ahluwalia (left), who has won two National Awards for Best Costume Design for the films Bandit Queen and Haider (extreme below), Ana Singh, two-time National Award winner for films Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story (2005; above) and Umrao Jaan (2006), and Indrakshi Pattanaik Malik, who won the National Award for the Telugu film Mahanati (below), will be a part of the session on nuances of costume designing.THE SESSION IS GOING TO BE VERY PERSONAL FOR ME: DOLLY AHLUWALIA
At the session, Ahluwalia will share her personal journey as a costume designer. “The session is going to be a very personal one for me. I will share my life experiences, how I approach costume designing and how I create a character. As a costume designer, it has been a very rewarding journey for me. Since I am also an actor, it is easier for me to relate to the character I am designing for. So far, every film that I have done was a challenge and each one is close to my heart. In a nutshell, I will talk about Dolly Ahluwalia’s journey, which started at the age of 16 and continues when I am 60.”
COSTUME DESIGNING HAS LOST ITS SERIOUSNESS IN INDIAN FILMS: ANA SINGHAna Singh (right) says at the session, she would want to emphasise on the lack of creativity in costume designing today. “I feel that costume designing has lost its seriousness in Indian films. If there’s a period film being made, there is a templated look being followed in everything. For example, a film could be based in Maharashtra, but the jewellery inspiration will be from Rajasthan. The precision and research is missing in costume designing. One cannot just rely on internet for research. Research is visiting those places where a film is based, understanding the social structure and lifestyle of a certain era and creating the look of the people from that era and that society. I feel all that is missing today. You will be shocked to note that better work is being done by costume designers in the TV industry than by some mainstream film costume designers. It has become more about proposing designs rather than actually creating them. There are very few people, like five percent, who try and do something authentic and creative,” says Ana.
HOW MANY TIMES HAVE WE SEEN A COSTUME DESIGNER’S NAME ON FILM POSTERS?: INDRAKSHI PATTANAIK MALIKIndrakshi tells us that she will focus on why costume designing is one of the most important but least talked about part of the filmmaking process. Indrakshi says that while talking about the importance of costume designing, especially in biopics and period dramas, she would elaborate on the relevance of research. “I think my generation of costume designers is lucky to have all information on fingertips, literally and various sources to collect visual references. I have great respect for senior costume designers who used to go through archives and relied on limited information and references that were available to them. Despite all the hard work, they remained unsung heroes. How many times have we seen a costume designer’s name on film posters? Bhanu Athaiya won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for Gandhi, but my interns would not even know her name. I have read her book, but I am probably from the last generation that knows about her. We all speak highly of our actors and directors who are nominated for Academy Awards, but it is only recently that we have started talking about costume designers,” says Indrakshi.
Ahluwalia adds, “Costume designing is still lagging behind. It is noticed, but not as much as an actor or a director’s work would be noticed. It is costume designers who make the characters come alive on screen. I am grateful that now costume designers are being recognised, but there should be more recognition for them.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)