Anju Modi on styling Deepika and Priyanka for Ram-Leela

Will you be interested in doing more Bollywood projects after this one? Yes I think so because this was very exciting and I enjoyed doing the research work. It is my passion in life, where I enjoy going deeper into the character, Read More">research and creating a specific look. Which is your favourite look of DeepikaRead More

Will you be interested in doing more Bollywood projects after this one?
Yes I think so because this was very exciting and I enjoyed doing the research work. It is my passion in life, where I enjoy going deeper into the character, research and creating a specific look.

Which is your favourite look of Deepika in the movie?
If you ask me there are many, but since 'Nagada' is very popular and lifelike for everybody, I like it too, but at the same time I like 'Lahu Munh Lag Gaya', the Holi scene outfit more. There are also two, three more outfits which are not seen in the promo.

How different is it designing for a movie than for a fashion week?
Very different, because in movies you understand the need of the character and you design whereas in day-to-day fashion you understand the need of the day-to-day wearer and design it accordingly. So the basics are the same, you fulfill the design requirements as a designer, but for film characters you make sure that the colors look effective on the screen even if in daily life they are not wearable. So fashion is little more fashionable and movie is little more character-oriented.

How much was Mr. Bhansali involved in the designing of each look? Mr. Bhansali is a very open-minded and large hearted person. He told me not to restrict myself, Read More">and to go over board and larger than life in designing. He was comfortable giving me a free hand which helped me do better justice. EvenRead More

How much was Mr. Bhansali involved in the designing of each look?
Mr. Bhansali is a very open-minded and large hearted person. He told me not to restrict myself, and to go over board and larger than life in designing. He was comfortable giving me a free hand which helped me do better justice. Even though Sanjay was not designing, he was making my creativity go boundless. It was interactive creativity, I would say Sanjay used to ignite my creativity and get me thinking.

How diverse was it styling Deepika and Priyanka in their respective roles?
It was pretty diverse, if you see Priyanka's outfit, it has got nothing to do with Deepika's. Deepika's character is of a normal village girl whereas Priyanka's character is of a mujra wali, so firstly the role is different and secondly Priyanka is not wearing a lehenga-choli. We made her costume slightly different than the usual ghagra also because her scene was about coming out of the bath in the morning.

What research went in while styling the character? Deepika wears only cotton attire in the entire movie, what is the reason behind it? I have been working in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Kutch since the last 20 years, so my research was already underway. But Sanjay and I visited certain remote areas of Gujarat, Read More">Bhuj togetherRead More

What research went in while styling the character? Deepika wears only cotton attire in the entire movie, what is the reason behind it?
I have been working in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Kutch since the last 20 years, so my research was already underway. But Sanjay and I visited certain remote areas of Gujarat, Bhuj together for further research. In fact we also went to the old antique dealers, houses and got a lot of beautiful heritage fabrics from there but, the challenge was to blend the new fabrics with the old antiquated stuff.

I personally cannot work with the synthetic fabric and secondly even Sanjay doesn't like it and thirdly, all the Gujarati women since ages have been wearing cotton.

Apart from fine detailing on the blouses and lehengas which other trends did you make use of?
Be it Leela's jewelry or her hair, her whole look is different. For the hair we tried various styles, but then we realized it should just be roughly held with a normal pin and then left loose. Deepika plays the role of a village girl who is not made up, so she has to look real, young and innocent at the same time. If you notice in day-to-day life one doesn't dress up with so much jewelry but Leela wears beautiful earrings, sometimes very beautiful anklets. We also tried few simple nose rings on her, which made her look sweet, nice and young.

Having created an extensive library of research and development in weaving, vegetable dyeing, block printing and old traditional embroidery, Read More">a revered couturier Anju Modi makes her Bollywood debut with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s upcoming film Ram Leela. Bollywood Hungama had a brief chat with Anju on designing the look for Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra inRead More

Having created an extensive library of research and development in weaving, vegetable dyeing, block printing and old traditional embroidery, a revered couturier Anju Modi makes her Bollywood debut with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's upcoming film Ram Leela.

Bollywood Hungama had a brief chat with Anju on designing the look for Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra in the film.

Ram-Leela being your Bollywood debut, after getting the brief what was your understanding of Deepika's character Leela?
When Sanjay and I were sitting with our design and creative team, our understanding was that we had to feature a Gujarati girl who is not very old. Add to this the fact that the movie is made in modern times, so even though Leela is a village girl, she has to look contemporary. Sanjay didn't want me to leave aside the craft and the kind of colors that I use usually and the earthy tones of Gujarat. My job was to keep the heritage of Gujarat alive.

Since Deepika was signed on a very short notice after replacing Priyanka, did it give you a little less time to prepare?
Indeed, I was signed in July, in the middle of my couture fashion week preparations and I was supposed to get the first costume done by August 10. Thanks to this the scene was that my show was on July 31 and in the middle of it, I have to prepare the costumes and deliver them, the first costume being for 'Lahu Munh Lag Gaya', the holi scene.