Chandigarh, February 24
It’s a moment of triumph for Dolly Ahluwalia Tiwari, the Chandigarh-based costume designer who bagged her first Filmfare award for “Omkara” today. In the award ceremony held in Mumbai late tonight, Dolly was declared the best costume designer for Vishal Bhardwaj’s “Omkara”.

In the race for the top slot, Dolly defeated favourites like Manish Malhotra, Loveleen Bains and Anaita Shroff Adajania. While Manish had been nominated for two films, Karan Johar’s “Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna” and “Don”, Bains and Anaita had been nominated for their work in “Rang de Basanti” and “Dhoom-2”, respectively.

Malhotra has won the award for a number of times. Bains has been among the favourites since she worked for “Lagaan”.

But, despite the celebrated history of contenders, Dolly steered clear of competition to emerge the winner. She won for a “difficult yet perfect” representation of Uttar Pradesh’s rustic charm through her costumes in the film. And though she could not attend the award ceremony, she spoke to The Tribune over the phone from Delhi where she is nursing her ill sister.

“I thank Vishal for the award because he gave me a free hand when I was researching for the costumes. Recreating the feel of rural UP was not easy, nor was it easy to dress top stars like Ajay Devgan, Kareena, Saif Ali Khan and Bipasha. I had toured UP several times before I prepared the blueprint which was approved by Vishal and everyone else.

“The toughest part was to design costumes for Saif, who played Langda Tyagi in the film. His costumes had to mirror his malevolence, which was very tough.”

A national award winner for her costumes in Shekhar Kapur’s “Bandit Queen” (1993-1994), Dolly has been an integral part of Deepa Mehta’s trilogy, “Fire”, “Earth” and “Water”. For “Water”, Dolly even bagged a nomination in the Genie Awards. And now “Water” is running for the Oscars this Monday.

Dolly says she is elated to receive the award because it is her first pure commercial Hindi film award. “It is my first mark in Bollywood which you just can’t ignore, no matter how high you rise in the parallel film circuit. I am happy my work has been noticed by the Mumbai film industry though I still feel Loveleen had done a fabulous job to design the costumes for freedom fighters in “Rang de Basanti”.

Back home in Chandigarh, Dolly’s husband Kamal Tiwari, who played Kareena Kapoor’s father in “Omkara”, is equally excited though a little lonely without Dolly. “But I can sense her happiness. It is a moment of honour, both for Dolly and for Chandigarh where she belongs.”

The awards ceremony will be telecast tomorrow.