Supernatural films have an otherworldly quality, and nobody is happier about it than the costume and production designers. After all, it gives them the freedom to reimagine the on-screen world and its characters. But designing the costumes for Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 was a tricky affair for Niharika Bhasin. While the costume designer had to bring novelty to the horror comedy—starring Kartik Aaryan, Vidya Balan, Madhuri Dixit-Nene and Triptii Dimri—she also had to stay true to the character of Manjulika, which has become iconic over the years.

Did she attempt to reimagine the central character? “With Manjulika, it was important to honour what the audiences already connect with, but also offer a fresh take. We initially considered an Indo-western fusion, and grounding the look in traditional Indian aesthetics. Since the story is set in Bengal, we drew heavily from fabrics and textiles popular in Bengal, like Jamdani and Bishnupuri silk, to stay culturally true. Cultural elements are always the starting point for me. The challenge was blending these cultural references with the eerie aspects of the character. We created a unique saree-pant look for one of the songs; it gave a modern twist while maintaining traditional influences,” says Bhasin.

In the 2007 edition that kicked off the Bhool Bhulaiyaa franchise, Balan firmly established Manjulika as a revenge-seeking spirit who was wronged in her lifetime. What makes Anees Bazmee’s upcoming directorial venture exciting is that it has two Manjulikas, played by Balan and Dixit.

The costume designer shares, “Since there are two Manjulikas, we carefully crafted two distinct looks. In terms of colour palettes, one leans towards cooler tones, and the other towards warmer, richer tones. Their jewellery also plays a role in setting them apart, with one adorned in silver and the other in gold, symbolizing their differing economic statuses. We sometimes put both actresses in starkly different looks, and at other times, made them almost identical to heighten the suspense. Black, of course, plays a significant role in adding that eerie element to the frame.”

It helped that Balan knew the universe because of her earlier association. Bhasin says the actor had valuable inputs that helped perfect Manjulika’s look.

“Vidya has a deep knowledge of textiles, especially in sarees. She can often tell you exactly where a fabric is from, and its cultural significance. This kind of input helped me elevate the look because she brought her own intelligence and understanding to the character’s style.”

There is a certain perverse delight in hearing actor-producer-director, SoBo boy-gone-movies Jim Sarbh talk about how much research he had to do as preparation and how he had to learn to not interrupt people when they were speaking. And assess what kind of questions made for interesting answers and which did not.

This has been in preparation for Crew Cut, co-actor Zoya Hussain and his new endeavour on YouTube that takes the audience into conversation with technicians in the business. “I like the term crew better than technicians, because it makes their contribution seem, well, technical and not creative,” says Sarbh, whom we saw most recently as Adil Khanna in Made In Heaven and in Rocket Boys as Dr Homi J Bhabha. “Often, they are the ones with a sense of entirety about the project, a sense of visual storytelling matched only by, perhaps, the director. As actors, we only know a section of the project.”

Sarbh confesses to be “endlessly curious” about filmmaking and is constantly speaking to music composers, sound artistes, cinematographers about their craft, or wondering how the set designers on Gangubai [Kathiawadi] gave the walls that patina so evocative of age and decay. “If a costume designer has put two pens in the pocket of the character (as for Rocket Boys), I need to know why,” he says. “Are they different coloured? Which colour would Dr Homi Bhabha use for what? Is it because he has many documents to sign and doesn’t want to run out of ink.”

Hussain, also, has been “fascinated by what film [the actual reels] look like, shadows, lights, the nostalgia. I romanticised light and how long takes made you feel. As I gained a better understanding of things, I gravitated towards how cinematographers make the visual language of a film. The intake while we watch a movie, way more than we realise, is thanks to them.”

Fascinated as much as both were by these aspects, they knew the general populace may not be drawn to these conversations, so they reeled in more recognisable friends to spotlight these heroes with their fame. So, actor Vidya Balan speaks to long-time collaborator, costume designer Niharika Bhasin who won the National award for Costume Design for The Dirty Picture. Rasika Duggal quizzes editor Namrata Rao (Fan, Mrs Chatterjee VS Norway, Made In Heaven), Hussain speaks with make-up artist Ayesha Seth (Queen, Slumdog Millionaire), and Sarbh himself chats with cinematographer Harshvir Oberoi (Rocket Boys, Kathal) and music composers Naren Chandravarkar and Benedict Taylor (Udta Punjab, Nil Battey Sannata).

In waiting are sound designer Resul Pokutty (Slumdog Millionaire, Highway), make-up and prosthetic artist Preetisheel Singh (Padmavat, Bajirao Mastani), costume designer Maxima Basu, music composers Dub Sharma (Gully Boy, Made In Heaven) and Achint Thakkar (Rocket Boys, Scam 1992), editor Sanjukta Kaza (Tumbbad, Bhediya, Paatal Lok) in the wings with actors Kalki Koechlin, Ali Fazal, Arjun Mathur, Vivek Gomber and Tillotama Shome.

“We just reached out to people we know first, and then kind-of-know, and then don’t-know-but-want-to-know,” says Hussain about the process of pairing actors and technical experts. “And almost everyone was thrilled to participate,” says Sarbh. “There was the matter of getting dates, but that’s just technical.” Balan, for instance, was so immersed that she had memorized the three sheets of questions handed to her to conduct the interview seamlessly.

While Hussain says “there wasn’t much prep” as an interviewer, Sarbh admits at first getting into the technicalities of the craft such as the type of lens used, etc and then realising as he saw the episode, that it didn’t make for engaging conversation for everyone. “What was interesting was the minutea of the vision. For example, for Rocket Boys, two timelines converge and I asked Oberoi what was the overriding emotion he was trying to evoke at this point of conversion. He said ‘death of the utopian ideal’. Two decades into independent India, which was built on non-violence and a dream of a great country, the country was besieged. We had lost a war with China, things weren’t great with [East and West] Pakistan, and Bhabha and Sarabhai had to now build a bomb.”

Besides these technicalities, Hussain wanted to know the human elements: Why they picked the profession, what inspires them, what they like outside of work, who they are, some jokes, lots of advice, and how their brains just cook up things. “It’s been lovely to see what technical aspects of film viewers are fascinated by. It’s also just lovely to be a silent participant to watch and listen to energies come together,” she says.