Padmaavat: Designers Rimple-Harpreet Reveal All About Deepika, Ranveer, Shahid's Outfits In The Film

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus Padmaavat, formerly titled 'Padmavati', starring Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh, will finally hit the theaters on January 25 after months of furor by fringe outfit Karni Sena over the portrayal of Rani Padmavati, played by Deepika Padukone, and Rajputs in the movie. But, with several theaters across the country showcasing paid preview of the 'controversial' film, a large number of viewers, film reviewers and critics have all given a thumbs up to the period drama, especially lauding Ranveer Singh for his terrific performance as the 'monstrous' Allaudin Khilji.

And while the Padmavaat team had to go through a lot, including death threats, before the release of the film, it seems like all the patience and hard work that had gone behind making the movie, has finally paid off with audiences and critics both hailing the film as an epic cinematic experience. Ranveer's portrayal of a ruthless Khilji, Deepika as the brave Rani Padmavati and Shahid as the valiant Rajput King of Chittor Maharawal Ratan Singh, together make Sanjay Leela Bhansali's epic film a visual treat. But besides acting, what also makes the film relevant to its time and period are the outfits that the stars sported in the film.

And so, to get a better understanding of what went behind making the outfits relevant enough and still standout, we spoke to designers Rimple and Harpreet, who have been working tirelessly towards achieving perfection in the outfits that the three lead character's wore in the film. We asked them about what went into creating such stunning garments, what it was like working with the actors and more in an exclusive chat.

"Given that we are dealing with 14th century royals, and not much is actually documented of that era, we had to shift and isolate key elements that might have been prevalent then and eliminate all modern/Mughal/European influences from the garments to enter a pure-zone that Mr. Bhansali envisioned for the character," designers Rimple and Harpreet in an exclusive interview with News18.com.

"Initially, our design team started research by delving into various travelers' accounts and manuscripts to get an idea of how the lifestyle of the royals used to be back then," they added.

Giving a fair understanding of the beautiful hand embroideries done on the ensembles worn by the characters, the designers said, "Rajasthan has been a centre for embroideries done by women for centuries. Our team visited various clusters in Rajasthan to study the traditional embroideries such as ‘Mukke Ka Kaam’ which is an example of very fine intricate embroidery done by couching gold and silver metal threads over the base fabric. Golden mukke ka kaam used along with red thread edging is known as Raato while silver mukke ka kaam with blue thread edging is called Dhaulo. For the ornate court looks for Deepika, we tried to achieve a vintage, aged effect by mixing both Raato and Dhaulo."

Talking about the various techniques that they used to get the desired outcome, Rimple and Harpreet said, "A lot of techniques have gone into creating the detailed looks that are reminiscent of the era. Our teams got special blocks developed from Sanganer and Bagru for the block-printing. Some prints have up to 24 different colors in one motif and as many blocks had to be created to achieve the effect. The block prints were further detailed with hand-painting and embroideries."

"The prints were then layered with gota work for which we specially sourced badla wires that were given to weavers to create authentic gota. The authentic gota has a high percentage of copper which was further electroplated to achieve a gold finish and then oxidized to age. We did not want to use the modern-day plastic wire gota that is readily available in the market. The garments were aged and treated with various concoctions and materials such as natural dyes, indigo, pomegranate, rose to achieve the natural colors that were prevalent then," the designer duo added.

On working with the three versatile actors, the designers said it was a dream to work with all three, especially mentioning Deepika. "Deepika is a dream to work with. She is extremely disciplined when it comes to her craft and willing to go to great lengths to get under the skin of the character."

Elaborating that it took 4 months and 22 artisans to get the desired look for Shahid, both Rimple and Harpreet were of the opinion that the actor's regal look in the visual extravaganza is fitting of Rajput glory with each costume made to suit the province of that time.

"Shahid who essays the role of Rawal Ratan Singh in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati, will be seen in a look like a never before. Playing the brave and noble Indian Rajput king, Shahid’s regal look in the visual extravaganza is fitting of Rajput glory with each costume made to suit the province of that time.

The Delhi-based designers sourced organic fabrics from Rajasthan that were all embroidered by hand by 22 local artisans. It took the designers 4 months to work on his look, from sourcing fabric to working on the finer detail of every garment. While the colors and hues used are masculine, they are on the brighter side, keeping the traditional Rajasthani colors in mind.

Harpreet said, "Shahid is an actor par excellence who truly imbibes the virtues of the character he is portraying and assimilates himself into the being of the protagonist.”

Talking about working on actor Ranveer Singh's garments, who essays the role of the ambitious and obsessive Alauddin Khilji, the designers said that the actor's deadly look is truly one that will be long remembered. The duo, who worked towards creating an antagonist's look that was dark and ominous given his tribal invader background, truly gave in all to achieve the fantabulous result.

Rimple Narula said, "We wanted to create the look of an antagonist whom audiences would remember for a long time to come...an iconic cinematic character who befits Mr Bhansali's grand vision. Given Khilji's nomadic Turkish origins, we did a lot of research on the costumes and textiles of the belt, right from Afghanistan to Kazakhistan to the central Asia belt around Turkey."

"Our own travels also came in handy as we have, over the years, collected samples of various old textiles such as Suzanis and Tapestries from flea markets and auctions, which were great reference points for getting the styling, the look and feel just right, said Harpreet, adding, "Khilji's color pallete is decidedly dark and ominous given his tribal invader background and we have used very robust nomadic elements layered with different textures and fabrics to achieve a very rugged look that goes with the character's evolution through the course of the narrative- from a young warrior-invader to the Sultan of India who is besotted by Rani Padmavati's beauty. Numerous vintage shawls and drapes have been used to layer and style the ornate hand crafted armors to give the look an authentic feel."

(All images from the official trailer of the film Padmaavat)