Vikram Phadnis talks straight and with immense clarity. We called the multihyphenate creator, who started as a fashion choreographer before transitioning into a costume designer, a fashion designer, and now a filmmaker, to chat about his gala show in Mumbai on October 14 to celebrate his 35-year-old journey in the world of glitz and glamour. Vikram spoke about the various phases with a certain candour that is quite rare. Excerpts.
Congratulations, Vikram! Give us a sneak peek of the headspace that you were in the night before the big show.
I think from the morning of October 13, while I was working, whether it was fittings, whether it was costume trials, whether it was the set I was putting together, or the setup that we were doing at the show, I think throughout, subconsciously, deep down, I was just reminiscing the hustle and the struggle that it’s taken to reach here. And whether even people will understand what it means to be in a business, especially such a competitive, such a fragile industry as fashion, where you’re best known for the last job done. It just took me back in time from the start, my choreography days in fashion, and it just felt like a culmination where everything was coming to an end.
Who fuelled your dreams as a young boy?
There was no inspiration as such. I think there was no one motivation or inspiration saying, ‘I want to be this person, or I want to understand his or her journey and follow that path’. It was a natural progression. I myself was learning at ground level. Nothing was like, okay, fine, I’ve been taught something, now I have to implement it. I was implementing it on the spot while I was learning.
I come from a medical background. My parents are in medicine. I did not understand what the dynamics of the entertainment industry were. I just knew that I wanted to run away from medicine.... And I think my keen ear for music, understanding what directing shows is, watching the Miss India shows, and watching the NIFT shows.... Hemant Trivedi used to be one of the leading choreographers at that point in time. So, understanding that directing shows meant that you’ve got to have the knowledge of stage, light, sound, and visual. It’s a visual and an audio medium. And that’s what attracted me the most.
Do you remember how your parents reacted when you told them about choosing fashion as a profession?
They were not okay with understanding what this business is, how this can be a job, and how this can be the job of a guy. They couldn’t understand how a guy could be a fashion designer. What would be the income? What would be the stability in this business? What is the future of this business? At that point in time, when we started off, we were just a handful of us. You could count them on your fingertips. To tell them that this can be a full-blown career was tough to explain.
They were not okay with it for a very long time. They’re both doctors. They were not okay with understanding what this is. Like, why am I so inclined towards this and what draws me to this, and what keeps me wanting to be a part of this.
Did you drop out of college then?
No, I completed college, but I started a professional career while I was in college. My first show was with Madhu Sapre, Namrata Shirodkar, Deepak Malhotra, and Sangeeta Bijlani. All these people had started while I was in my final year. I did two years of science and then opted out for commerce.
Who were your favourite muses or models from that era?
Mehr Jesia. I would organise my shows only if Mehr’s dates were available.
Shows are so much hard work. How do you feel when the stage lights come on?
I never am backstage at my shows. I’m always at the sound console. You know, it’s like giving birth. I mean, I would never know what it means, like giving birth, but it’s like finally seeing your baby come alive because you’ve dreamt of it from its inception, you’ve dreamt of it from the time you made that first garment, to telling the choreographer how you want the show, and finally the audience sitting over there and watching it live, it’s like a full circle.
Shows were very different then...
Completely, completely. Shows were not only different, but there were a handful of models, 30 models in the country, and dates of shows would revolve around them. They were all supermodels. Every single person was a supermodel, whether it was Nayanika Chatterjee, whether it was Mehr Jesia, whether it was Shyamoli Varma, Shikha Swaroop, Lubna Adam, Sangeeta Bijlani, they were all supermodels. We would travel together; it was a family.
While you were choreographing, did you have this feeling that you wanted to design?
Not in the initial years. I think I have spent at least 12 to 13 years as a choreographer. My entire learning of the business of fashion came from there, even if I had nothing to do with design.
It was all a natural progression. Nothing was planned. When I became a fashion choreographer, and I used to direct shows for other designers, I just understood I had a great sense of stage, light, sound, the aesthetics in terms of putting a night together, an event together. So it was all about directing models, what the show will start with, what will be the ending, what will be the music, the lighting, and the sound. And, it all started from my keen interest in directing shows, which led me to become a designer.
One thing led to the other, and there was never a date, a time, a year, that I got into it. It was step by step, slowly. I just knew what didn’t appeal to my eye, and what appealed to my eye, and I think that was my biggest learning. Knowing the fact that what works and what doesn’t work for me. Sometimes we want to be somebody else, sometimes we want to ape somebody else, because their journey has been successful. You want to follow somebody’s path because you feel that’s the formula to success. That’s never been my case. I don’t care who else is how much more successful than me, or what their path is. I feel this is my journey, and this is my path, and I enjoy that.
What would you say have been the learning steps for you in building your business?
That you cannot take anything for granted, and you cannot depend on people’s validation. You cannot depend on whether somebody endorses your product or not. You have to keep hustling, you have to keep struggling, you have to keep saying that your consistency will prove your future.
You cannot be affected by another person’s success or failure. What keeps me going and my brand going is, if you are consistent in your mind and your output, nothing can stop you. There is a market for everybody.
Who were the people who helped you set up the label Vikram Phadnis?
Nobody helped me set up Vikram Phadnis, but the person who gave me my identity, and my brand an identity, gave me everything, more than just a life, is Salman (Khan). He gave me everything that I have. Like, I literally owe him everything. They don’t make men like him any more. There are so many more people who deserve platforms. There must be so many more talented people than me. There may be so many people who are better at the craft than I am. You know you can stand on a stage, but if nobody gives you a mic, you can’t speak. Nobody will hear you. And he gave me that mic. He gave me a voice.
It must have been special for you to have him walk at the show...
Absolutely! He doesn’t walk for anybody. And it was just special because in a heartbeat he said yes.
You gave up costume designing after a point...
I stopped because I wanted to focus on direction. Everybody said there is a lot of money, you become more famous, so why are you giving it up at the peak of your career. The idea is not why you give up something, the idea is what is your life journey.
I wanted to tell stories. There are so many people who told me that you may become irrelevant, people will forget you if you are not in the public eye, there is a constant need to be in the public eye. I don’t have a PR person who puts me out there that I am taking a flight or who, which actor is coming to my house for dinner. So suddenly you can’t be because that is working in society. You cannot suddenly change to be that person.
How did your costume designing journey and your fashion designing journey feed into each other?
They’re both different mindsets, actually. It’s not necessary that a fashion designer can be a great costume designer, or the other way around. I enjoyed making clothes for celluloid at that point in time, and it was a great journey. I got to travel the world, got to meet the most beautiful people across the globe, and now, with retail, I get to interact with my end user, with my buyers. So it’s a different ball game altogether.
I got my first film, Hindustani, with a South Indian director called Shankar, with Urmila (Matondkar), Manisha Koirala and Kamal Haasan. I did that as a one-off thing, and from there it just grew from one thing to the other. We did big films, there were big stars, there were great songs that I did, but there was never a conscious decision that now I’ll aim to do this. I think I just took one day at a time when I was ready to direct and tell stories to the world, I made my first Marathi film (Hrudayantar), and I announced my decision to leave costumes, not to leave doing clothes, just to leave costumes.
What is the language of your label?
Wearability and affordability. My clothes are practical. Nothing that you see on the runway cannot be worn, and there is a price that everybody can afford to pay. I want people to enjoy wearing my clothes. I don’t want to be labelled as somebody who is exclusive or somebody who does only high-end. I want every bride to wear my clothes who cannot necessarily afford a very high-end or very expensive label. All my karigars live in Mumbai. Everything is hands-on.
What was putting together Ananta like?
There were many archival pieces which I put together and reinvented or revamped them according to today’s 2025 sensibilities. Things that had worked in cinema, things that had worked for me or my brand, I restructured them, reused them, remade them and put them together.
What do you like and what do you not like about how the fashion industry has evolved?
I don’t like the hierarchy that has come in. There is a stylist, a designer, a manager and a personal manager. There is an agency, and that agency has a personal manager for a brand. Then there is hair and make-up. We would do everything by ourselves. The designer would tell the hair people, make-up people.
There was a personal interaction between the actors and us on this thing. Now it’s become like everything is about sourcing, outsourcing. Not that it’s not good, it’s perfect. It’s great for today’s times. But everything is one piece, 10 colours. You know what I’m saying? When we did it, everything was interpersonal. The outfit had a meaning and a reason behind why it was being made. It was not just contacting 10 international designers and showing their sample pieces. That is the difference.
The fact that I like is that there is not too much of a hustle (now). Demand and supply are met. At that point in time, we knew what the demand was, and we had to get a supply arranged for that demand. Now the demand and supply are in balance. If you want something, everything is available. There is a supply to that demand.
How critical are you of your own shows when you watch them?
I am not so hard on myself because nothing gets you a green tick every time. There is a learning.
And do you enjoy collaborating with other choreographers on your shows?
Yes, absolutely. Now I don’t direct my shows. Now I leave it to other people.
But do you always give inputs?
Two hundred per cent. Working with me is not easy!
How has the journey been from a director’s lens?
It’s great because I start my pre-production soon, and I start shooting on January 5, hopefully (a Hindi remake of his second Marathi film, Smile Please), if all goes well, if my casting goes right and if everything falls in place. It’s a natural progression.
Is it a dream for you to make a film with Salman Khan someday?
One hundred per cent! He has to be okay with it.
Pictures courtesy: Vikram Phadnis