Mastering a filmi wardrobe
CHECK OUT BOLLYWOOD’S DRESS CODE AND LEARN HOW THE TOP HEROES, RICH, POOR, WIDOWS, VAMPS... ARE SUPPOSED TO DRESS
Clothes maketh the actor? I’m not quite sure about that, going by the suits as well as the casuals being ramp-walked in the movies nowadays. The fashion du jour is dictated, currently, by Salman Khan of course. That means super-tight shirts and vests which the
Dabangg dude can explode from for the fight-to-the-finish. The suspense ends, claps and wolf whistles shake the very foundations of the multiplex. Bare is beautiful.
If Salman Khan were to keep his shirt on, I suspect, those `100-crore collections would decimate drastically. Others have sought to go the six-abs route too — all the other Khans, Ajay Devgn most prominently in Singham, and in an earlier era, Sunny Deol, but have never evoked the hysteria of the Salman kind.
And so this Sunday, I’ll tell you about the hazards involved in the costume department. It’s a bit of a nightmare actually, since every star insists on his or her own designer, zooming the budget costs to the high heavens. That’s why you’ll find clashing colours between the hero-heroine while breaking into a colour-challenged duet.
And valiant superheroes don the thickest of leather jackets in a scene which is supposed to be set in the height of summer. That makes for an unintentional comic moment really, what with the delicate heroine in muslin tops and denim minis, while her formidable consort is garbed in wool, Harley-Davidson jackets and heavens, even Pashmina shawls. A rule of cinema perhaps, since heroines are meant to look alluring, which is why Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif, more than any other of their peers, have defied the chilly willies.
Irrevocably, the problem No. 1 is that costumes invariably arrive at the last split second. If a blouse-sleeve is too baggy or too tight, the day’s shoot can be peremptorily cancelled. And there can be unpredictable glitches. Like a top designer was assigned to outfit the heroine. Before flying off to the Caribbean islands or wherever fashionistas fly nowadays, the designer sent over a stack of identical pair of jeans. Eight of ’em. The heroine was incensed. Was she expected to wear the lookalikes for every scene she appeared in? Not done. The producer had to cough out more cash for salwar kameezes, slacks and evening gowns — and distributed the unused jeans among his aunts and nieces. Honest!
And please let me tell you that there are certain stipulations. A middle-class (lower) hero has to wear stripes and tiny checks. Curiously, that is believed to be the uniform of the underprivileged. And the wealthy must wear suits and ties even if the scene shows them lounging at home. I was enlightened about this by Rishi Kapoor who pointed out, “Even in the arty movies, rich guys must wear three-piece suits as a contrast to the downtrodden.”
Widows have to switch to thick cotton saris. Vamps must wear decolletage-flaunting ensembles (note Bipasha Basu in Raaz 3). And the bad guys are either in ministers’ garbs or flamboyant jackets-Jodhpurs. Muslim characters are assigned kurtas and crushed dupattas (if a burqa can be accommodated, the better).
So see, there is a dress code which Bollywood follows like a religion. For the top heroes, though, at this very moment, it’s the bare chest and white banian which rock.
They aren’t baring their legs, or not too often at least. Our Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar did get leggy for Mujhse Shaadi Karogi. Mercy be, they’ve returned to their good ole trousers.
Widows have to switch to thick cotton saris. Vamps must wear décolletage flaunting ensembles (note Bipasha Basu in Raaz 3). And the bad guys are either in ministers’ garbs or flamboyant jackets-jodhpurs