DNA (November 6, 2018)

Aamir Khan is known to be a perfectionist who gets into the skin of every character that he portrays on screen. For the role of Firangi (a flamboyant, sly and smooth-talking thug) in Yash Raj Films’ Thugs Of Hindostan (TOH), the actor was involved in every aspect of styling along with costume designers Rushi Sharma and Manoshi Nath.

The superstar, who sports earrings and a big nose pin in the film, ensured that he got two piercings in order to lend authenticity to his character. Aamir reveals, “When I started working on this role, I felt Firangi should have a nose pin. It was instinctive for me. When I live with all of this, whether it’s the nose ring or the studs, it becomes a part of me.”

Director Vijay Krishna Acharya (popularly known as Viktor) is all praises for him and says, “It was a brave attempt on his part. He has given a lot of blood to this role!” Rushi and Manushi highlight that Aamir opted for the chunkiest nose pin, despite knowing it would be painful. “There were many options, but he chose the one, which was the heaviest and had the thickest wire,” they aver.

The action extravaganza, which releases on November 8, brings together Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir for the first time on screen.

The real thugs behind Thugs Of Hindostan - Manushi Nath, Rushi Sharma and Sumit Basu - reveal how they spent three years to create the onscreen opulence
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; November 4, 2018)

The film is yet to conquer the box office, but the trailer of Thugs Of Hindostan establishes the film as a magnum opus, albeit differently from the ones we have been familiar with in Bollywood, so far. Sanjay Leela Bhansali's history-based fiction films are how we have come to see opulent sets and grandeur in the movies.

Thugs Of Hindostan is about a mysterious Hindustan, but has not delved into a specific geographic location or time period. We meet the people who created this era impeccably with a touch of fantasy that is rooted in reality. Manushi Nath (left) and Rushi Sharma (left; below) - costume stylists - spent a cumbersome three and a half years etching out the nuances of the look of each character as per their personalities.

"We have had a lifetime of work on this film. People in our teams got married, divorced, had babies and we were still doing Thugs...," laughs Sharma. Nath and Sharma, who have been professional partners for the last decade, worked on multiple films together, their next being the Kangana Ranaut-starrer Panga. The duo claims that Thugs was an experience hard to replicate because of the sheer expanse of the film's narrative. "It was a voluminous film to tackle. We put in an incredible amount of research and took plenty of trips to museums and libraries. Since we didn't find any photographic evidence, we went with paintings of the period, which is where we got the silhouette of the film. Our queries about the red army or the then British army were answered at the Victoria Albert Museum in London. We got our buttons and collars for the uniforms from the picture references they sent," explains Sharma.

Nath adds, "Photography was introduced to the world sometime in 1839, but our film was set [roughly] between 1795 and 1805. It's a tricky period because our research was substantiated by Dandyism [from the 1830s]; but back then there were no references to feature films. So, we kept going back to Beau Brummels' [American rock band from 1964] fashion sense when pants were worn higher and didn't have a fly; they had buttons on the sides. We stuck to the fabrics of the time and emphasised on the period-specific attire, which also demonstrated the influence of the silk route in India." They explain that it was pre-decided to give the film a pan-India touch without going into specifics of a geographic location.

The duo admits that it was toughest to nail Amitabh Bachchan's look in the film. "He is a Kisan-warrior who is waging a battle for freedom. He needed a structured and balanced look, so, we gave him a ferocious attire with softer fabrics. It was his armour that we struggled with the most. It was heavy and a nightmare to pull off because he had to do stunts, swing on ropes and fight with swords in it. So, we had to replicate it in a lighter fabric," adds Sharma. There were plenty of material options fo the armour explains Nath, but the stunt department rejected most of them. "Since the rubber material was melting in the heat, we eventually settled for an amalgamation of leather and rubber. The embossing was identical and painted to perfection."

The designers unanimously agreed that it was fun to design for Aamir Khan's character Firangi Mallah. When asked if they took influences from Feste - the court jester from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and Nath says, "We only took his opera glass as a memoir from the play. We went back to several characters from literature to cull him out. He is jester-like, which is why you will find the parallels."

Nath and Sharma are hopeful that a few inventions made on the film will be used in other films of a similar palette. "There were six departments working relentlessly on the costumes. One of the things we designed were leather jutti-shaped shoes which were moulded on sports shoes to make action comfortable for the actors. When we shot water stunts in Malta, the clothes started losing colour because of the excess chlorine in the water. It was madness," says Sharma. They further explain that as audience, we are used to seeing opulence of the royal variety and so they tried to adopt a different strategy. "For a fantasy world, one need not always wear an 80 kilo zardosi lehenga. Opulence can be established in lighter fabrics, with simple silk aztec work on lehenga," says Nath.

While the costume department had the monstrosity of expanse to deal with, art director Sumit Basu (left), who was also the set designer of Manto, had to build two ships which could float on water. "Getting the correct world was necessary, but building a ship was exhausting. I researched about the working of a ship and studied the wind because we couldn't fake a ship. Making the outline of a ship is easy, but it was a challenge to create a functional deck, especially with the canons in place. We took it a step further by designing the artillery and the weapons were replicated from paintings. No one has experimented like this in Bollywood," said Basu.

In an earlier interview with mid-day, Basu had said that cost was a major concern while building the ship but it was important to maintain authenticity. Basu adds, "Authenticity was our focus. The production house did not cut corners at any point; in fact, they trusted me entirely and never questioned my judgment. Crores have gone into the making of the ships but the product on screen looks worth it."

When asked about the obvious similarities with Pirates Of The Caribbean, and he says, "Pirates was never a reference point for us. In fact, I haven't even watched it or Game Of Thrones. Obviously, there are shows with similar elements - pirates, ships and sea stunts - but that doesn't mean we intended to replicate it. We take it as a compliment than we've achieved a visual worth comparisons."

DNA (October 29, 2018)

As the release of Thugs Of Hindostan draws nearer, several aspects of the film are being avidly discussed. One of them is Amitabh Bachchan’s look as the heroic Khudabaksh. The movie, which is set in the 1800s, talks about the rise of the British East India Company that eventually went on to rule the country. It was a challenge for costume designers Rushi Sharma and Manoshi Nath to bring alive this era, yet retain a touch of fantasy through the various clothes donned by the characters.

To ensure that Big B’s outfit echoed his valour, they combined armour and leather with traditional dhoti pants. “His character has contrasting personalities. He is a warrior, who is a farmer at heart. So, we have given him a kurta and a dhoti. The former has a cotton and a linen rib with a mulmul lining to give it that softness. On top of that, we have given him a hard armour, which brings out the fierceness of a warrior of his stature,” they explain.

It was a tough task for the actors to film the action sequences on board a ship with showers and sea waters soaking them up. However, the legend of Hindi cinema sailed through these portions.

He says, “The costume designers have gone through a long process of labour to design something. Many sequences where I had to wear the armour were shot in the rain. The drenched leather would become as heavy as wearing a metal outfit. It was cumbersome, but I think in the interest of the film and that of the character, one had to wear it.”

Aamir Khan plays Firangi, the other central character in the film, which releases on November 8. His look is a far cry from that of Big B. The actor, who essays a flamboyant and smooth-talking thug, was involved in the research and design. Says Aamir, “Whether it’s his hat, sunglasses, shoes or jacket, everything has been flicked.”

Rushi and  Manoshi add, “Firangi is a potpourri of different elements and identities stolen from people he has met. He lives up to his name with his top hat and choice of foreign liquor. He wears a leather tailcoat in jade, the colour of a chameleon. He has a chatelaine belt from which he hangs his favourite belongings and sports rose-tinted sunglasses, a mismatched pair of boots and carries an ornate leather canteen of water.”

Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 12, 2016)

Maxima Basu was a better choice for the biopic than Manoshi Nath and Rushi Sharma who were a little pricey
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 24, 2015)

Maxima Basu who was an assistant director on Danny Boyle's Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire and Ship of Theseus, and who designed the costumes for Peepli (Live) and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Goliyon Ki Raasleela: Ram-Leela, has now bagged another much-coveted project. She will style Aamir Khan for his upcoming production, Dangal, which has him playing a retired wrestler who coaches his two daughters to glory.

The Nitesh Tiwari directorial had earlier roped in Manoshi Nath and Rushi Sharma who had done the costumes for two of 2015's biggest hits, PK and Queen. Manu-Rushi, as they are fondly called, have had a long association with Aamir, having worked with him in Talaash, Dhoom 3, Satyamev Jayate and more recently PK.

"The duo had started work on the film but Aamir who is also the film's coproducer was not happy with the remuneration they quoted which didn't fit the financial framework of the project," says a source close to the production.

He wanted someone who was easy on the film's budget and also had a more realistic touch. "Maxima who had worked extensively on Peepli (Live), which was also an Aamir Khan production, and Ship of Theseus presented by wife Kiran Rao has now been roped in. And Dangal which is in pre-production, is sailing smoothly," adds the source.