Dressing up Najeeb

Chemical bond and material density of fabrics, the impact of weather on cloth... Aadujeevitham found Stephy Zaviour delving into scientific principles

ever before or since

Aadujeevitham, has costume designer Stephy Zaviour ever given serious thought to the chemical component or the material density of the fabrics she used. “Resul Pookutty sir wanted to know it lest the rustling of polyester fabric interferes with the sound recording,” she reminisces.

The research was tricky. There is no photograph of Najeeb during his ‘goat days’. “Nobody has ‘seen’ him when he was living in the desert. What we know is what Benyamin

chettan has written and

Blessy sir’s

Nvisualisation. I hope the picture of Najeeb that Blessy sir has (shown through my work) and that of how people have imagined him meet.” She had not read the novel by Benyamin then but knew enough of it from what her mother, an avid reader, had told her. Most of the costumes worn by Najeeb (played by Prithviraj Sukumaran) while in the desert, are handsewn.

“The garments show the movement of the story and the passage of time. The audience will see Najeeb in the same garment over a period of time. But it was not just that one piece, there were multiple thawb or

thobe (the longsleeved, anklelength garment worn by Arab men) of the one Prithviraj wore. The stains, the tears, the ageing — all of which had to be uniform in every piece. A lot of effort went into the film’s costumes.”

A question about the shoes is inevitable. “The shoes are also handmade. Blessy sir sent me a drawing of the shoes with specifications: the look, the wear and tear. It also had to convey the difficulty of wearing it in a desert,” Stephy adds.

Stephy calls Prithviraj a nonfussy, thorough professional. “He wore the same costumes for over seven years, the same dull and dirty

thobes without a word of complaint.”

Stephy describes

Aadujeevitham asa onceinalifetime film. “I don’t think I’ll spend seven years on another film. It is a lot of work — ensuring continuity and taking care of each pin, needle and piece of fabric.”

Prithviraj in Stephy Zaviour.

Aadujeevitham;