Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 4, 2015)

Filmmaker Muzzafar Ali had styled Rekha's turn as a courtesan in his 1981 hit Umrao Jaan. But for his upcoming period drama, Jaanisaar, the director brought in his wife Meera Ali to handpick the ensembles for Ameer and Noor, played by Pakistani actor Imran Abbas Naqvi and stylist-turned-actor Pernia Qureshi.

"My husband asked me to keep two things in mind: the costumes should be period-related and their authenticity should be mood-elated," says Meera Ali, who is also the producer of the film.

The film is set in the last years of the Mughal rule and follows the life of a courtesan in Lucknow. The British had already made inroads into the country and western influences had crept into local fashions.

Meera spent a year-and-a-half getting the details right, from the frills on the blouses to the shape of the ghagras and the right fabrics.

"We used a mix of wool and silk and got the fabrics woven in Kotwara. Today, most of the designers use georgette but we avoided that fabric to suit the Victorian influences prevalent during that time," says the designer.

The palette of colours too was era-appropriate. "The chemical dyes used today make the reds seem more vibrant. So we avoided red completely. We also toned down the pinks and used a lot of greens and purples," explains Meera.

She also kept in mind the stark differences in the clothes of the aristocrats and courtesans from the Hindu and Muslim communities.

"The clothes worn by the Muslim aristrocrats had intricate borders and the Hindu courtesans wore fabrics with the Ganga-jamuni weave," Meera explains.

The accessories played an equally important role. "Like the clothes and the shoes, even the jewellery could not be bought off the shelf. We designed chokers, long haars and haath phool to bring out the mood of the era," she says, adding that all the shawls used in the film were original Jamawar silk.

Apart from the brocade on the dresses, Meera also hired shoemakers to craft the boots and mojaris popular during those times.

"Imran's character Ameer returns to India after living in England for years. The film follows how his style of dressing gradually shifts from coats and boots to aristocratic Indian clothes. Even the English women in the film change styles, from wearing dainty heels to curl-tipped jootis," she reveals.

But it was not just the clothes which were era-appropriate, the actors too had to fit into the mis en scene. "Pernia is thin and tall and with a little training she pulled off the long Indian outfits perfectly. Imran's body language too changed once he wore the tight-fitted bandhgalas. They made my job easier," Meera signs off.