Mastani’s fitoor and bollywood fashion…!!

There are very few movies these days which catch your eye when you see the promos. ‘Fitoor’ was one such movie which made me feel a little fuzzy on the inside. Could it be due to the intense dialogue delivery by the brooding ARK or the oh-so-beautiful Kashmir locations? So, of course, I went for the movie as soon as I could after its release.

‘Fitoor’ is absolutely enchanting to the eyes. Gorgeous Kashmir in the winters with all its snow, the frozen lakes, the rustic beauty not to mention the ‘chinar’ ka laal, is a sight to behold. Beyond the picturesque beauty, an air of mystery surrounds the characters. Tabu as the begum looks absolutely gorgeous but it is quite difficult to fathom what she holds in her heart. Manish Malhotra, who has styled Tabu for ‘Fitoor’, considers her a “fantastic” actress and found the experience of working with her “great”. Earlier it was the vetran actress Rekha who was supposed to play the role of the begum. Manish, who had already started working on Rekha’s costume, had many discussions and meetings over the clothes but in the end Rekha had to leave the film midway and Tabu stepped in and boy did she do a good job? She damn well did!

From fashion perspective, Tabu looked and carried the pastel as well as the dark gothic colors with equal ease. I especially loved her in the scene in London when she visits Ark’s character wearing a long black cape, orange brocade kurta, oversized glasses and her lipstick shade the exact color of her hair. The whole aura that she carries around this character is mindboggling.

Another beauty in the film was Katrina Kaif, who played the sultry, sassy and the classy Begum’s daughter. From her work blazers, biker jackets to pashas to lehengas to anarkalis, she looked drop-dead-gorgeous in all. It is said that Katrina has been styled by Anaita Shroff Adjania and her outfits are from high street brands ZARA, Forever21 and some others. Who did her traditional ones is a bit of the mystery as of now. Could it be Manish Malhotra or Sabyasachi? I do know that the National Award winning designer Niharika Khan, who was creating costumes for the film, suddenly decided to make an exit after working on the film’s costume for over a year. Niharika Khan, in the past, has also worked on the opulent costumes inspired from 50’s, in the period drama Bombay Velvet. Back to Fitoor, I personally think it should be Sabyasachi doing the traditional look of Kat especially the ensemble that I just loved, the one where Kat is spotted wearing a green Zara shirt with an overflowing black skirt with golden work all across in the song ‘Hone Do Batiyaan’ (video link posted below). The Indo-western look was accessorized with 3 strands of pearl and uncut chains.

Another movie which created waves for its costumes was the award winning film ‘Bajirao Mastani’. Very recently a mannequin @ Elahe (a Designer Boutique in Hyderabad) was seen sporting the layered golden lehenga and dupatta worn by DP in the ‘Deewani Mastani’ song. Now because the costumes were such a hit with all its regalia that the designer Anju Modi thought of coming up with a new line, fit for regal brides, that is more of a commercial take on the heavy costumes designed for the film. Now I really didn’t get a chance to catch the film (the lead actor of the movie perhaps could be the reason) but from the fashion perspective I have had my eyes and senses fully focused on the film. Out of all the costumes, I would say my favorite would be the beautiful red anarlkali dress which DP also wore while she walked the ramp for designer Anju Modi. One of the posters of the movie also has this same look. The outfit has floral motifs in the sleeves and below instead of churidar pants, its red and golden lehenga with a flared anarkali top. There are two duppattas used to complete this outfit, one is of net and the other one is velvet.

But wasn’t this expected from a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film? After all he is one director who always focusses on highlighting the everyday regional wear as per his story. For eg: the Bengali look in Devdas, Gujarati in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Ram Leela and now the Maharashtrian chic, a region hardly known for its fashion radar, in Bajirao Mastani . The looks of the characters have been nailed to perfection according to their cultural differences. We can see Kashibai as the married woman donning more of colors and because of her social position as the ideal homely woman. She is seen with chandra-kor most of the time while Mastani being a Muslim is seen with no sindoor or bindi. Their clothes and body language brings out, quite beautifully, the culturally different background that they belong from.

The scale and grandeur in the clothes and jewellery is marvelous, and of course it would be after all the designer Anju Modi did museum hopping and studying 18th century-aesthetics to get the Bajirao Mastani costumes right.

Now don’t be surprised if you find many girls/women wearing the outfits similar to the above in the next wedding ceremony you go to…

---