Dresswalas – The Costume Designers of Bollywood

Bollywood is a Global Fashion Icon which represents the great cultural vibrancy of India through its films. It combines age-old traditions with contemporary designs displaying a unique blend of diversity in the field of Fashion. The Costumes in Hindi commercial Films have also followed the ethos of creating Stars who are Stylish and are imitated by normal people in their usual lives. The list of successful Costume Designers in India today is impressive and we have witnessed the shifting of Hollywood to our zone in recent times.

Generally, Costume Designing has been a department handled by the wife, sister or friend of a Star who is familiar with their personality and comfort zone. KARAN JOHAR organised it for SRK (Main Hoon Na, Om Shanti Om, DDLJ, Dil To Pagal Hai, Veer Zaara, Mohabbatein & Duplicate) who was styled by his wife Gauri Khan previously for Baazigar, Darr, Karan Arjun, Raam Jaane, Chaahat & English Babu Desi Mem. Dimple Kapadia’s sister Simple Kapadia designed for most of her films (Sunny Deol’s too) and received a National Award for Rudaali.

The Dresswalas of Bollywood on the other hand, are the multiple people in charge of costumes who usually do not receive a mention in the Credits of the Film. Many of the establishments in the early days associated with designing were Apparel and High-end tailoring stores. KACHINS, STYLO & BADA SAAB have provided clothes for hundreds of films. KACHINS is known for AMITABH BACHCHAN’s costumes in some of his biggest films (Don, Sholay, Amar Akbar Anthony, Dostana etc). Kachins also received a National Award for Lamhe although their name wasn’t mentioned in the credits.

KANHAIYA ROHIRA of Stylo created the Guru-Collar shirts of Rajesh Khanna in the 70s. AKBAR SHAHPURWALA of Gabana created Tailor made suits for Big B personally for 50 years and also Abhishek Bacchan’s first ever suit as a child. The influence was such that if your costumes were designed by Kachins & Gabana, then you had arrived as a Star.

From the late 60s-90s (till Hum Apke Hain Kaun), one of the longest lists of costume credits belongs to MANI J. RABADI. From Teen Romances (Bobby, Khel Khel Mein, Hum Kisi Se Kim Nahin) to extravagantly glamorous films like An Evening in Paris & Jewel Thief she is the first one to establish a couture culture in Bollywood.

LEENA DARU was another legend behind some of Bollywood’s most memorable looks including the iconic “Chloe Ke Peechhe” & “Ek Do Teen” costumes. She started her journey with Hema Malini in Seeta Aur Geeta and continued to create magic till Khalnayak. She also designed Rekha’s trendsetting Saris in Silsila.

The grand old lady of Indian designing and the Oscar winner BHANU ATHAIYA created fashion rage in her times (the wrap around sari worn by Mumtaz/ Saadhna’s fitting chudidar & knee length kurta/Zeenat Aman’s sensuous look in Hare Rama Hare Krishna/ Waheeda Rehman’s austere look in Guide). The veteran worked for over 6 decades shaping the aesthetics of Hindi Cinema through her prolific work.

The one with the stellar list in modern times is the globally acclaimed NEETA LULLA who created breathtakingly beautiful costumes for Chaandni, Lamhe, Taal, Devdas , Jodha Akbar apart from more than 300 films. She is amongst the most awarded Fashion Designers who is known for creating the entire look of  Leading Bollywood Actresses Sridevi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Juhi Chawla, Shilpa Shetty, Kareena Kapoor, Sushmita Sen and many others for their successful & popular films.

ANNA SINGH  has designed for almost 998 films (A Guinness Record) and began her career with Maine Pyar Kiya. She has given flamboyant looks to her Heroes like  Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn, Govinda and is responsible for keeping Jackie Shroff on best dressed Star list (his iconic Bandini Dupatta with Jeans look is irreplaceable). She has also worked with Michael Jackson & Will Smith besides creating numerous wardrobes for Indian Miss Universe & Miss World pageant winners.

Undoubtedly, the most legendary & best-known Dresswala of Bollywood is MAGANLAL DRESSWALA  – the costume supplier for the first Indian Talkie ALAM ARA & the oldest company doing the same for Indian Cinema & Television. It was started by 2 brothers Maganlal & Harilal who tied Pagdis in their village. There has been probably no historical film or a TV Show without their involvement (including Mughal-e-Azam & The Sword of Tipu Sultan)

Dilip Kumar while working for Kranti insisted that the owners tie his Pagdi to put him in the right mood. Wether he was obliged or not has no verification.

The responsibility handed over to the Costume Designer is to draw up the costume plot which shows which characters appear in each scene, what they wear and what’s their movement throughout the play. After the approval of the initial sketches by the production, they draw the style, silhouette, textures & accessories of each costume.

Indian Couturiers like Manish Malhotra & Sabyasachi Mukherji have established themselves as the personal Stylists of specific Stars to give them a synchronised look with the characters they portray on screen. The International appeal of their Craft is evident today on social media. Creative styling of Madhuri & Karisma by Manish Malhotra (Dil To Pagal Hai) helped them establish themselves as Chic after their tacky & garish on-screen images in terms of the dresses they wore defined their Fashion- Status.

And Like they say in Movies…. “Every woman wants to wear a Manish Malhotra Lehenga & a Sabyasachi Sari at some point in their lives”