Styling Raanjhanaa

The whole film is about colours. What was interesting for me as a costume designer was to make them (Sonam Kapoor and Dhanush) look like teenagers in (the first half)!

Sonam Kapoor

Sonam just gave herself to me. She was like butter to work on. She loved her kurta look.

Benaras

I have picked the colours you locally find in Benaras, the older dyes that were used, like the indigo. I have used lots of haldi colours. The colours have been picked up from the mandir or a puja thali. At times we have broken it with a blue. So, you will see a strong essence of Benaras ghats coming in.

Zoya, the schoolgirl

What would definitely catch your eye is her simple look. The simpler it is, the more appealing it is. A young Zoya (Sonam Kapoor) grows up in Benaras. I went and stayed there for almost a week, took lots of pictures of how people dress these days. You will see Zoya in a school uniform, a red-checked pinafore, giving her a small-town convent-girl look. We cut the length correct enough for her to look very young in it. It’s teamed with a white shirt and we gave her two braids and a nose ring. The nose ring did wonders! Her hair is neatly done with red ribbons and she carries a backpack. She has gone with a no-make-up look. Everything was custom-made for Sonam. I gave her floral skirts in bright colours, midi length with frills, a little lace detailing and solid tops. Some of the tops have small collars. We have kept it very simple. She wears rubber slippers. She also wears white churidars and dupattas, and keeps changing her kurtas. She wears small jhumkis with it.

Zoya, the college girl

The look is very interesting. I have given her knee-length kurtas and used lots of traditional fabrics like ikat, very popular in Delhi, jamawar, chanderi… so an arty-crafty feel. They have been paired with churidar and denims. I have embellished it with a little bit of dori work, sequins and used ghungroos as buttons. Zoya wears a nose pin in this look too. Sometimes, it is a tight ring or a stud. I have used a lot of earthy colours but kept it brighter like blues and reds. Since we have shown the winters, I have used a lot of cardigans. At times, I have thrown in a jacket…. So, keeping it realistic and concentrating on the details rather than flamboyance. Here too, her make-up is minimal. Tight jeans, handcrafted slippers, anklets is a typical Delhi way of dressing…. I have also played with a lot of hand-printed and hand-embroidered stoles. You see her in a white Anarkali. That’s from a Kathak sequence in the film. And the green gharara is from her sangeet sequence.

Dhanush

In the first half, Dhanush has a gully-ka-ladka kind of look. He can walk into any gully and would just blend in with the crowd. We have used a lot of flat-front cotton pants for him, teamed with half-sleeved checked shirts that give him a much younger feel. We have put a tee inside. For his older look, I have used corduroys, striped and checked shirts and a lot of handloom fabrics. He wears a rudraksh and a copper bracelet, that’s typical of Benaras. Another very Benaras element is black floaters. His look has been accessorised by the gamchha. Your look is not complete as a Benarasiya if you don’t have a gamchha!

Zoya’s earrings

That’s one thing to look out for. We have experimented and she is wearing some really gorgeous earrings. We have used jhumkis and hook-on earrings. These are things that any girl will relate to and can pick them up from a craft market. Sometimes, I have used a green stone and also a lot of silver jewellery. Earrings and nose pin apart, she is also wearing bangles, but the style is never OTT.