Costume designer Navin Shetty has worked on the Singham franchise since its inception. But with Singham Again bringing together the three established super cops—Ajay Devgn’s Bajirao Singham, Akshay Kumar’s Sooryavanshi, and Ranveer Singh’s Simmba—he had the task of lending a different look to each on-screen hero.

“Rohit sir’s [Shetty, filmmaker] brief was that he wanted Ajay’s civilian look to be different from the previous Singham editions. At the same time, he didn’t want me to lose the strong, tough persona of Bajirao Singham. We have given him solid colours with denims,” says the stylist, breaking down Devgn’s look in the Diwali release.

Next came Kumar and Singh’s avatars. Navin says he thoroughly enjoys working with Kumar. “When you have a fit actor like Akshay sir, you get an upper hand to play around with styles and cuts. Ranveer used to be flamboyantly dressed [in his personal appearances]. Rohit sir wanted to break that image with Simmba [2018].”

Deepika Padukone and Tiger Shroff are the latest entrants in the cop universe. “The youth looks up to Tiger when it comes to fitness. Rohit sir wanted Tiger to look muscular and tough.”

The designer’s brief for Arjun Kapoor’s antagonist was simple—depict him as an all-evil being. “He is the Raavan of the story. We experimented a lot with Arjun’s hair, make-up and costumes. Black was the colour for this guy—strong, wild and deadly.”

Shlok Sharma, who made his debut with Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer Haraamkhor (2015), has placed India’s name on the list of countries whose films will screen at the Tribeca Film Festival. Sharma’s Two Sisters And A Husband, co-written by Shilpa Srivastava, is India’s official entry to the New York festival in the International Narrative Competition section. 

The filmmaker says, “It is an honour to be part of a festival that [will screen the works] of such celebrated filmmakers whose films we have grown up watching. My producer, Navin Shetty and I have dreamt of this opportunity. This story is close to my heart. It is based on a family in our proximity. While growing up, I continued to be intrigued by them, even though I hadn’t met them in years. I collaborated with Shilpa, and we kept revisiting the circumstances of these characters. Each time that I would visit them as a piece of fiction, I would be baffled by their reality. Their universality is their emotions — pure, unadulterated and relatable.”

The film will have its world premiere at the festival that runs from June 8 to 19. It is the only Indian film to have been selected at the festival.

Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; April 6, 2014)

Ever wondered what happens to the numerous outfits worn by actors in a film? Bollywood stars break into a song on screen, crooning atop snow-capped mountains, flowing valleys and exotic flower beds or, gyrating in different costumes every nanosecond. By the time the last shot of the film is taken, there are stacks of clothes left behind.

Some may be garish, others outlandish and some wearable off screen as well, but most make their way to the production house’s trunks, or petis in Bollywood parlance. They are stacked and rehashed for the production house’s future projects.

Of course, at times, something an actor fancies goes home with him or her (no questions asked). Or when celebrity designers are styling for the lead stars, the outfits go with the designer. It all comes under the production costs incurred for a film.

Actress Ayesha Khanna, who starred in the recent release Dishkiyaaon, has been a stylist for Yash Raj Films such as Band Baja Baaraat (2010) and Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl (2011). She says, “At Yash Raj, all the costumes are stacked in petis. Each peti is labelled so that you know exactly for which film the lead stars, supporting cast and the extras wore the clothes. Later, for another film, things get mixed and matched.”

Ayesha cites an example, “Aishwarya Rai’s Kajra Re item number outfit from the 2005 film Bunty Aur Babli was used on a background dancer in Band Baaja Baaraat in 2010. It was mixed and matched. The choli was worn with another ghaghra, so it was impossible that anyone will notice it.”



However, not all stylists follow this mantra. Navin Shetty has styled for several films, including Zanjeer, Himmatwala and Agneepath. He styles Ajay Devgn in his films, too. The designer does not believe in the reuse theory or in cutting corners. “I approach every film afresh. I don’t recycle stuff or rehash from costumes used in an earlier project. After understanding the actor’s character in the film, I go about making the costumes. Sometimes they may be bought off the shelves, if something catches my fancy and I feel it suits the character.”

He adds, “Once the shoot is over, everything goes to the production house’s petis. It is their property, I have nothing to do with it. By that time I have moved on to another project.” He also styled brother-in-law, director Rohit Shetty, for the ongoing reality show, Khatron Ke Khiladi which he hosts. “All his outfits have gone back to the production house,” he adds.

B-Town designer, Leepakshi Ellawadi, who is currently styling Shraddha Kapoor for Ek Villain says, “For a designer, once the film’s shoot is complete, so is the job. What the production house or the stars do with the outfits, is their prerogative. Often an actor wants to add his or her touch to his/her look in the film and gets stuff from his/her own wardrobe.”

She earlier styled Amitabh Bachchan in his 2011 film Bbuddah... Hoga Terra Baap. Big B had accompanied her on a shopping trip in London. “We picked up a lot of high-end labels. Several alterations had to be made. He was apprehensive about whether he could carry it off, but he pulled it off well.”

Even when stars have taken a personal interest in the shopping, the stuff usually goes back to the petis.
“Some actors may like an outfit and want to keep it for nostalgia’s sake, but it is no big deal,” concludes Ayesha.

One film, 125 costumes
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan wore over 125 costumes in Vipul Shah’s 2010 film Action Replayy. The makers claimed that it was a record as most Bollywood films have 40 costume changes on an average including those in songs. The wrap-up shot alone had the actress doing nine dress changes. The justification came from the fact that Ash’s character had a fetish for clothes. Vipul realised that the number of costumes were high when the person who was managing Ash’s costumes kept demanding more and more space to store them.

Small screen scene