Queen of the costumes

Shashi Sunny

The year 2015 has really been a hectic one for Anju Modi. Beginning with a season at the Amazon India Fashion Week earlier this year to presenting the much-acclaimed collection at the India Couture Week to setting up a new store in Delhi’s Defence Colony, the fashion designer juggled multiple designing assignments. But love for the fabric, she says, keeps her going, like it has till now. In between completing other tasks, she was working on the next project of Sanjay Leela Bhansali as a costume designer. The trailers of the film Bajirao Mastani are already out and the inflow of texts and phone call from admirers and clients alike has gained momentum as well. Costumes designed by her along with the script and sets will recreate the era of 18th century Maratha warrior Peshwa Bajirao I (played by Ranveer Singh), his second wife Mastani (Deepika Padukone) and Kashibai (Priyanka Chopra), the first wife of Peshwa Bajirao. In a tete-a-tete, Anju Modi talks about what she puts as her most fascinating Bollywood project till date.

How much research went into the creation of the costumes?

Bajirao Mastani is a period film set in the 17th and 18th century. The main reference was the period when Bajirao rose to fame as a Peshwa. I had to consider every aspect of that time-zone while designing costumes for this movie. It was not just the costumes that had to hark back to that era, but also jewellery and accessories were to be made to represent the opulence and grandeur of the flourishing civilisation. Naturally, painstaking research went into creating the costumes. Also, I travelled a lot, not only to Pune and Maheshwar, but also outside Maharashtra to Gujarat (Patan), Madhya Pradesh (Ajanta and Ellora) and even to regions of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. I studied history, went into the interiors of erstwhile royal empires and visited museums to get a sense of what it used to be then. I have always been deeply influenced by traditional textiles, crafts of our country and designing costumes for the film gave me a deeper insight into our heritage.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali is a stickler for detail, so he was very clear about the way he wanted the character to be portrayed. He travelled with me to various parts of Maharashtra to research on the attire of the Peshwas as well as the Muslims to see how we could bring out nuances of each of the three main characters.

Mastani played by Deepika is a Muslim with Persian origins and the second wife Kashibai is the Maratha Peshwa’s first wife. How different are the costumes of both women?

Both women in Bajirao’s life had their own cultural and religious influences and contrasting lifestyles. While designing their attire, I tried to capture some of their subtler personality traits. I gave Ranveer Singh angrakahas, Priyanka wore the typical Maharashtrian nauvari saris and for Deepika I designed shararas, kurtis and long odhnis typical of the Muslim women dressing up of that time.

Bajirao, Kashibai or Mastani — designing whose costume was the most challenging?

All three were challenging in different ways. I feel the most important aspect of a costume designed for a period film is that it should be able to recreate the magic of that era in a realistic way, without going overboard and making it too theatrical. The viewer should feel transported to that era.

How and what did you design in jewellery for the lead characters?

Not only the clothes, but accessories and jewellery too have to look authentic to complement the costumes. We created expensive jewellery pieces because the characters are royal. We have used real Basra pearls, antique stones and uncut diamonds to lend the film a regal look. We went with the Hyderabadi Nizaam’s royal look for Mastani in keeping with her part-Muslim heritage. For the battle scenes, we created heavy chainmail battle gear and footwear made out of leather. Since Kashibai was a traditional Maharashtrian woman and the first wife of Bajirao, we gave her a nathni and other typical ornaments of the Maharashtrian nobility. My favourite costume in the film is the red ensemble that I have created for Deepika Padukone.

How far is your latest collection inspired by your Bollywood costume designs?

I found the Persian culture fascinating and decided to take inspiration from it for my latest couture line. For Mastani’s Persian princess look in the royal love saga, I also did extensive research on the culture and architecture of Persia and its influences on India. I have taken bits and pieces of Persian influences and mixed it with Indian sensibilities.

Persia’s is an ancient civilisation and it boasts of rich heritage, tradition, great art work, architecture and Mughal motifs and these are different from our Rajasthani and Gujarati designs. I have taken all these influences and mixed it with our own Indian ethos to create a contemporary line.