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| Kareena Kapoor in Manish Malhotra at the Lakme Absolute Grand Finale at Palladium Hotel in Mumbai |
Kareena Kapoor Khan tells t2 about her sense of style and hubby Saif, a couple of hours before taking the ramp for Manish Malhotra...
Decode Kareena Kapoor: her fashion, make-up and mantra in life…
Fashion is very simple and classic. My personal style is elegant. It is minimal. I am not much into contemporary fashion, but of course if it is a new designer up on the runway, I would definitely support it, like I have in the past. My style is the way I am right now, torn jeans (Zara) and a (Prada) shirt. That’s what I live in basically. That’s the kind of personality I am. Make-up, off-screen, is like no make-up ever. I don’t even use a lipstick. Sometimes my mother tells me, ‘You are coming out of the airport and you look really tired, at least put lipstick and kajal.’ I am like, ‘Why should I do that?! I have come off a 10-hour flight and I cannot be full of make-up!’ That’s the last thing I would probably even think of!
I think I have done my bit in the last 15 years. Now I am settled, happy, sorted, I just do what I want to do. That’s the way one is happy in life. Few people, few friends, few films that I choose to be a part of. And basically, just relax. Travel the world.
Who makes Kareena Kapoor go ‘wow’?
Hmm… well in males, nobody apart from my husband (Saif Ali Khan), because I don’t think a lot of Indian actors know how to dress (laughs), if I may say that, at the risk of sounding controversial... but they really don’t know how to wear a suit as well as Saif does. He is the most stylish man in India. There is nobody to touch him. One to 10, there is Saif and then there is everyone else. He knows a lot about clothes. He shops at the most amazing places, all over the world. From torn jeans to a pair of jodhpurs to a suit from Savile Row, he rocks in every look.
As far as women are concerned, my icons are (late) Maharani Gayatri Devi and my mother-in-law Sharmila Tagore. The way they dress… the elegance, that’s what I like. A classic black dress can look spectacular on a woman, not too much skin show. I like my saris a lot. Saris should be sexy, but dresses should be classic.
Who is the most stylish Kapoor?
I think it is Karisma. I think she is well turned out at every possible time! I am a bit of a jhalla sometimes, like I am in my torn jeans. Karisma will never wear torn jeans. If she saw me now, she would be like, ‘How can you do an interview in torn jeans?’ I am like… I don’t know, I am happy to come in my chappals, but I am forced to wear closed shoes. So, that’s the difference between the two of us. We are like chalk and cheese. She can dance in stilettos. She is the one actress who can just probably do that. I don’t know how she does it, even I cannot!
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| The pretty set designed by art director Sharmishta Roy |
Manish Malhotra said you are the coolest bride he has dressed!
When he was dressing me as a bride, I was like, ‘I don’t want to wear anything that’s too much’. My jewellery was minimal and my outfit was classic. That’s the way both Saif and me are. It was not even bridal. The kind of films Manish and I have done, we are yet to see a designer-actress combination who have done that body of work, from Chameli to Jab We Met, from 3 Idiots to now Singham (Returns) to Bodyguard to the Chammak challo sari. I think every film we have done is iconic and people really connected to it. We’ve been really lucky.
A bride’s boudoir. Ornate mirrors, roses and the soft glow of chandeliers adding to the romance. The mood is just right for Manish ‘a bride’s best friend’ Malhotra to take over. Fifteen minutes into the show and we saw Priyanka Chopra longing for a lehnga, signature Manish. A power woman being wooed by a “with-the-time collection, young yet formal and rich”.
What’s the trick to pull off a Nick Marshall (Mel Gibson’s character in What Women Want) with every collection? “There is no trick. I have worked in movies for so many years and I have this connect with the audience. I keep my mind open to ideas and thoughts. I never had this attitude in life, I still don’t. For me, I am this person who wakes up in the morning and goes to work I love to do and when somebody wears what I do, I find it as if it’s accomplished. Till date I want to know what the young mind is thinking or looking at. My attitude has never been that ‘I know it all’. Every day is a new day,” Manish told t2 before the show.
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| Kareena with Varun Dhawan and Manish Malhotra |
His collection was about the woman who is sure of what she wants, is “not aggressive but assertive, not bitter but positive, not overtly strong yet strong and vivacious”, the like Manish likes best.
Trailing cocktail lehngas to backless blouses to mirrored and gown saris to plunging necklines to racer-back blouse, wine, old rose, textured velvets and silks… Manish’s winter bride is sensuous and “spirited”. She is experimental with a penchant for vintage charm. Think roses. A hint of colour on the lower eyelid, hair bunched up on one side and looking as if it has just been dipped in a rosy hue.
“I am introducing a new trend that I think should do really well, which is grey. Like last year, we introduced navy blue. I have taken tie-and-dye, which is so cotton, to a function, something ceremonial,” said Manish. Grey and tie-and-dye in bridal wear? One look at his “sister” Kareena Kapoor and you know Manish does what Manish says. Make women look glamorous.
And all his women are complemented by his men. Varun Dhawan walks in, minus his dulhania, but looking dapper in a velvet-collared jacket and mirrored sunglasses.
Manish says...
Mirror has been a huge success story this year. It is a traditional craft but we have used it in a fun way. Grey and silver will be a rage in a Sangeet or an engagement.
Cocktail saris and lehngas are nice for the first engagement night or the reception. For the main wedding, it is a return to classic, old-world embroidery with gold and red.
A self-on-self sheen is definitely in.
Velvet mixed with silk, texture and wine are trending.
