Customizing the Characters

The ancient clothing in India would traditionally consist of the proverbial Dhoti and Angavastram (a white piece of cloth or stole, worn by men draped over the shoulders, cloth meant to cover the torso) with regional variations, in the form of a sari, ghagra-choli or dhoti, which remained popular till early decades of post-independence. By the Vedic period, women wore cloth wrapped and pinned around themselves much like the outfits of Iranian women or Greek women. Some women wore skirts wrapped and pleated around their waists and knotted in front, with a separate piece of fabric for a shawl or veil, and a tight shirt underneath. Much later, the Indian women moved in to wearing a sari, then an extension of the skirt which now covered the whole length of the body, waist below. The other end would be draped across the shoulder.

When clothing became a part of the Indian Cinema, the costume designers would be required to conduct a deep study of the character of the artist and then reproduce the same. It was Bhanu Athaiya who dressed actress Sadhana in a tight-fitting salwar kameez setting a fashion trend that lasted well into the 1970’s. Athaiya pays particular attention to character’s dressing and the historical settings of the film. This accounts to the critical acclaim that she has won such period dramas as ‘Sahib Biwi Aur Gulam’ , ’Reshma Aur Shera’ and ‘Gandhi’. Her costumes for Gulzar’s ‘Lekin’ made her won National Film Award for Best costume Designer in the year 1990.

You’ve probably never heard of Mani Rabadi, but I’ll bet you’ve seen her work before. A behind-the-scenes legend, Mani Rabadi was a fashion designer to the stars. This woman was the final word in costume design for Bollywood films of the 60s and 70s (even continuing to work until Hum Aapke Hain Kaun in 1994)! If you wanted something run-of-the-mill, Mani Rabadi was not your woman. But if a director wanted something to stand out, to set bold trends, and to wow the audience with glamour, she was the only choice. When you see some of the pictures below, you can readily understand how this silent woman in the background transformed the careers of the stars. Her styles turned actors into icons, and made actresses into idols.

Starting her career in a humble toy factory to help pay tuition, and then joining the Indian People’s Theatre Association, Mani got her first break doing Gujarati films before moving to Bollywood. Here is a gallery of her designs from the movies we all love – An Evening In Paris, Jewel Thief, Aradhana, Bobby, Farz ,Kati Patang, Prince, Amar Akbar Anthony & Don

The Visual Character

Production design, simply put, is the discipline that creates an appropriate visual world that the characters of a film inhabit. Depending on the script this could be region specific, period specific, futuristic, fantastical, theatrical – the field is as varied as the scripts of films. However, the visual essence of the cinema has changed over the years. From the dramatic sets of the films in the 60’s and 70’s era, Indian cinema has a come a long way, especially with the advent of the realism in cinema. The elaborate sets have been replaced by the real settings.

It was Baburao Painter  and his artist cousin Anandrao Painter between 1910 and 1916 who were the leading painters of stage backdrops in Western India doing several famous curtains for Sangeet Natak troupes and also for Gujarati Parsi theatres. They became avid filmgoers following Raja Harishchandra.

Through the song ‘Jab pyar kiya toh darna kya’, Indian actress Madhubala danced in the hearts of numerous fans, who were also smitten by the grandiosity of the set. Inspired by the Sheesh Mahal (Palace of Mirrors) built by Mughal emperor Shahjahan in Lahore, the set was designed by art director A K Sayyad who took the assistance of artisans from Firozabad in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh for the dextrous inlaid work on walls, pillars and the ceilings with multicoloured mirrors. After the shoot, the set was preserved for over six months at the Mehboob Studio in Mumbai and was kept open for the spectators.

Murlidhar Ramachandra Acharekar was an Indian artist and film art director in Hindi cinema who won the Filmfare Best Art Direction Award three times: for Pardesi, for Kaagaz Ke Phool, and for Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai. He was also responsible for the massive Circus backdrop of Mera Naam Joker.

Bansi Chandragupta (1924–1981) was an Indian art director and production designer, regarded among the greatest of art directors of Indian film industry. He won Filmfare Best Art Direction Award thrice, for Seema in 1972, for Do Jhoot in 1976 and for Chakra in 1982. He was awarded Evening Standard British Film Award posthumously for “best technical/artistic achievement” in 1983. He was born in 1924 in Sialkot, Punjab, British India and died on 27 June 1981 in Brookhaven, New York, United States.

Chandragupta is most well known as art director/production designer of movies directed by Satyajit Ray. He also worked with renowned film directors like Jean Renoir, Mrinal Sen, Shyam Benegal, Basu Chatterjee, Ismail Merchant, James Ivory and Aparna Sen.