Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 13, 2015)

National Award winning costume designer, Niharika Khan, admits that Bombay Velvet has been her biggest challenge so far because the film spans decades-from the '40 and '50 to the '60s-and has characters like Johnny Balraj, played by Ranbir Kapoor, who goes from being a young streetfighter wanting to the manager of the prestigious club the film is named after. "The ganjis and shorts made way for Varun Bahl designed suits, custom made shoes, tie-pins and cufflinks were bought in London," informs Niharika.

She goes on to point out that while the suits were tailored in keeping with the times -- drainpipe trousers, double-breasted suits and waistcoats, jackets with broad lapels--the look wasn't uniform for every character. "Kay Kay Menon's Inspector Kulkarni wears his trousers really high and his ties really short. Also, while Karan Johar's Kaizad Khambatta and Manish Chaudhari's Jimmy Mistry are both dapper Parsi gentlemen, Khambatta is more flamboyant while Jimmy is quieter, sulking in the corner, while his rival performs," points out Niharika.

There's a marked distinction between Anushka Sharma and Raveena Tandon's characters too despite both being jazz singers. While Raveena is a showgirl with the more elaborate dresses and bigger headgear, Anushka is glamorous without being showy. "Rosie Noronha is an Anglo-Indian Portugese girl from Goa who comes to Bombay to become a singer and slowly loses her inhibitions," says Niharika.

She remembers how they got a hat with feathers and a net covering the lower half of the face for Anushka's funeral scene and got another one like that designed for the racecourse sequence to compliment her black-and-white striped dress and white sunglasses. "But the black hat looked so stark that I painted white polka dots on it," laughs Niharika.

Talking of accessories reminds her of the round gold engagement ring with an emblem that both Ranbir and Anushka wear. "Everything about that period was so formal that we had to pay attention to the smallest details. The ring is significant because it had to look good on both their hands and signified the glamor they're aspiring to. I got it specially designed in London," she says.

Since all those working in the Bombay Velvet club are trying to impress the foreigners who come looking for liquor and music, there was a lot of Hollywood and Bollywood references even in the hairstyles. Ranbir drew his look from James Cagney while Anushka's bouffants created by Greek stylist Gabriel Georgio, borrowed from Sophia Loren, Audrey Hepburn, Waheeda Rehman, Saira Banu and Niharika's ma-in-law, Begum Para.

Her costumes comprised layers and layers of fabric which took hours to get into and by the end of the day, left her in a pool of sweat in the humid Sri Lankan weather where A/Cs didn't work and shoots had to be shifted to nights because the days were too hot. "I got a pristine white dress with pearls made for her for the Naak pe gussa song. Since the budget didn't allow two, we went to Sri Lanka with just one for a three-day shoot. Halfway through the first day, the dress was brown. Grappling with poor dry cleaning services, we managed as best as we could, to keep the stains away from the camera line," she says, shuddering at the memory.

Her biggest grouse was that the blue peacock dress that she had 'tortured' her team into creating with real feathers, lost all its detailing on stage as the DOP Rajeev Ravi suffused it in blue light. "For days I shot dirty looks at Rajeev and Anurag but I understood that the film is more important than the dress. One has to look at the bigger picture," she concludes.

Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 7, 2015)

The two worlds depicted in Vikramjit Singh's directorial debut, Roy, have one thing in common - Jacqueline Fernandez. The two characters played by the actress also help demarcate the two stories with their varied styles. The romantic thriller, which also stars Arjun Rampal and Ranbir Kapoor, has Jackie playing a double role and pulling off two distinctly different looks.

Costume designer Niharika Khan whose repertoire includes films like Rock On!!, Band Baaja Baraat and the National Award-winning The Dirty Picture reveals that the film progresses through flashbacks. Jackie plays Ayesha, a bohemian filmmaker, and Tia, a glamorous globetrotter.

"Both Ayesha and Tia have an innate sense of who they are. Their style is an expression of their personality. Tia is rich and wears elegant, structured pieces. Her look is serene. Ayesha on the other hand is reckless, gregarious and bohemian."

The film is loosely based on the real-life affair between Hollywood filmmakers Quentin Tarantino and Sofia Coppola. But Niharika asserts that the looks have been tailored for a desi audience. "Sofia's style has not been recreated for either Ayesha or Tia but like her, Jackie too wears shorts and keds when on the sets. Arjun Rampal also plays a director, Kabir, and he too is casually dressed at shoots, like Tarantino."

Some fashionistas have also pointed out that Jacqueline's Ayesha is styled on Bollywood directors Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti. Niharika retorts, "It's not just them, all of us dress like this on the sets. Women in Bollywood no longer wear trousers and shirts to work. We prefer lounging around in loose pants and sneakers, with our headphones plugged in, since most of love both music and clothes. Jackie's look reflects that."

This was the first time Niharika worked with the former Miss Sri Lanka. Were there any beauty queen-like tantrums? "None," she says. "For one particular shot she had to wear a hat. I cringed when I saw how she looked in it but Jacqueline didn't complain. Finally, I asked her to hold the hat in her hands and not wear it."