Ranbir Kapoor has such a good-boy image. Was it tough to make him look like a wild guy?

No, not at all. Ranbir has always had a wild side… in fact all of us do and it only needs to be tapped. This toughie yet vulnerable look was created after delving into the deepest, darkest secrets, lives and experiences of Imtiaz Ali (director), Ranbir and Aki Narula. That is how Janardhan aka Jordan was born. We would have weekly discussions. Imtiaz knew Janardhan’s face but couldn’t figure out how he would look neck down. I got the script last year in July and called Imtiaz at 3.30am to tell him I was bowled over. When we met the next afternoon, my brain was brimming with ideas. The first thing I told him was, “Mulmul meets leather”. “You’ve got it, bang on,” he said. We met two to three nights a week to discuss the look and I have to say it was like an orgasm that lasted one-and-a-half years! It was the best threesome possible (laughs).

Ranbir Kapoor and Nargis Fakhri in Rockstar

This film has been very emotional and the timing couldn’t have been more right. I was getting bored of the sequins and the glamour.

Really, you were?!

Yes! It’s cool to go to London or New York to shop and then come fit it on an actor, but this film made me look inside. It made me respect my life more and made me respect everything that our country has to offer. It made me respect the rebel I am inside. This rock star was not about leather, a cap and Jim Morrison. It was the first Indian rock star. The music was influenced by his life and the journey that took him from Mata ki Chowki to Kashmir, Prague, Dharamshala. Whether he was singing Sadda haq at Delhi University or performing at Hard Rock Cafe, his clothes had to reflect the journey.

The other day Imtiaz told me that he likes the fact that despite coming from mainstream fashion I haven’t lost my reality. He said that I don’t create fashion, I create people.

Which of the ‘people’, your creations, do you like best?

I love Babli [Bunty Aur Babli]. And then it’s Janardhan, Janardhan, Janardhan!

Weren’t you even once tempted to give him skinny jeans and a muscle tee?

No, not for Janardhan. The cliché just wouldn’t work. We didn’t want a rock star to jump onto the stage in front of 50,000 people to perform in a pair of skinny jeans. For us it was about where he was coming from. Janardhan is from Pitampura in north Delhi, from a hardcore Jat family. So we had to think what he would wear — probably a pair of jeans from Sarojini Nagar or Palika Bazaar. So we bought him two pairs of jeans for Rs 250 each. He wears these knitted sweaters, the kind his mother or her best friend or an old neighbour would knit. I found his shoes in Rohini, while I was travelling to a shoot.

I have to say that the way Ranbir breathed, smoked and fumed Rockstar, I haven’t seen that kind of dedication before. He grew his hair, stayed with a Jat family to experience the morning chhola bhatura and sharing a room with 10 other people, he wore the jeans and that affected his walk. He used to slip into the character the minute he slipped into his clothes.

After Delhi comes the Kashmir chapter and with each chapter of the film, the look evolves. His guitar case is handmade by his mother from his favourite bedcover. When he goes to Kashmir, we didn’t want him to go to an emporium and buy a phiran (Kashmiri robe) for Rs 50,000. We saw a man selling Rs 300 phirans on the street so we bought him a new one and took the one he was wearing! Two cans of deo were sprayed on it before Ranbir shot in it!

As each chapter progresses, little elements are added on, sometimes on his jacket, sometimes on his guitar strap. He has a Hard Rock Cafe badge from a performance, he has a Free Tibet badge from Dharamshala. He picks up the saafa or the bandana thing in the dargah and that becomes his signature style, the harem-salwars from some gypsies in Prague. We had to think the way Janardhan thinks, and shopping was the last thing on his mind! The white mul kurta he wears in the final concert is from his Delhi days, like an ode to his past. The leather jacket he wears in Prague is again not from a designer store. It’s a second-hand jacket from a Salvation Army store, as if a fellow gypsy has gifted it to him…

The cap is completely Indian. I didn’t want a beret or a cowboy hat or a leather beanie. It’s a military green Nehru cap, going into Anna Hazare! There’s a real feeling. You suddenly can’t have a Jim Morrison or a George Michael vibe! The hoodies of his kurtas have been made from the same tees that he used to wear in Delhi. You will see a black dhaga around his neck all the time that is home to his memories, like his mom’s mangalsutra bead or the pick of his guitar, a feather, some green fabric….

We shot the film backwards and the Kashmir bit last, so continuity was such a big thing when it came to his trinkets. We would always check what had to be added or removed, depending on which chapter was over!

Out of all the charms and trinkets he collected on his journey, which is your personal favourite?

The emotional fool that I am, my favourite is the little bead from his mother’s mangalsutra. Another special one is the green fabric that he ties to the epaulette of his jacket that he gets at the dargah. It is a very emotional part of the film that signifies that there is a shelter for everyone, that gurdwaras and dargahs are there to help you attain a roof over your head.

Which looks do you think will trickle down to the viewers?

Definitely the salwar pants. Fashion Street is already full of them. Even the chikankari kurtas with hoodies will be huge, a friend spotted them at the Hill Road stalls recently!

Finally, two films (Bachna Ae Haseeno and Rockstar) done and one more (Barfee) in the making — what do you have to say about Ranbir Kapoor?

He’s the most gutsy. To do roles so varied — from an intense rock star to a deaf-mute in Barfee. It’s easy to romance in Switzerland, easy to walk around the street with a pretty girl on your arm but to do what he does is something else. When you see him in Sadda haq or in the qawwali scene, you can feel the intensity. And the look is another story altogether. The stubble, it’s so sexy!

 

What did you think of Nargis Fakhri when Imtiaz Ali first introduced her to you?

Well, I knew that Imtiaz Ali was looking for a new heroine for Rockstar. We had already worked together in Jab We Met and it was a lovely working relationship. He told me that he missed me in Love Aaj Kal and wanted me to be a part of Rockstar. He feels I understand heroines very well, so he asked me to be part of Heer. We discussed the existing heroines but we needed someone beautiful and very fresh. Someone to match the character of a girl with a Kashmiri background who has studied abroad and come to college in Delhi. So it was more about beauty, less about fashion. Imtiaz told me he had seen the perfect girl and when he showed me the pictures, I saw what he meant. The character demanded a new face and Nargis does have a very pretty and fresh face.

Does she go with Imtiaz’s school of indie-cool?

Yes, she does. Imtiaz’s look is very eclectic and it’s about a modern India. The way he shows the banter between a girl and a boy, the way he depicts small towns…. The feeling of interior India is brought about in such a cool, not kitsch, manner. He has reversed the trend of shooting in Switzerland or in London or America; post-Jab We Met people started to look within India. The new cool is the Indian cool. It is really uber cool, it’s eclectic. He shows India in a fun manner.

We didn’t want Nargis to look too Western. She is going to college in Delhi, so she can’t be wearing short skirts! The look is modern, yes, but mixed with a lot of Indian elements. She carries her Indian-ness and her culture with her everywhere. So it’s a cool, contemporary India.

Kashmir also influences her look?

Yes, Kashmir plays an enormous role. Thanks to Imtiaz, I discovered Kashmir and its wonderful crafts. This year all my couture collections and fashion weeks have a lot of Kashmiri influence. Today, I have about 60 Kashmiri craftsmen working with me. Till now, Kashmiri for us meant carpet shops, or shawls or souvenirs, but with this film, people will look at Kashmir differently. Even if Nargis is wearing jeans and a shirt, the way she carries a traditional shawl is very chic. We have also developed some stunning styles using antique borders. It’s traditional yet trendy. As I said, Imtiaz is very proudly Indian but his India is more fun, more chilled out and not in a lecturing way about how great we are and what we have done for the craftsmen.

Do you see anyone else fitting into the role of Heer?

I think it’s the director’s vision. Imtiaz is a great visionary and one of the best in the biz these days. He thought Nargis would fit the bill for Heer. I also think she was the perfect choice. She’s been a model in New York, she’s a thorough professional. Put her in a Patiala salwar and kurta or a chiffony long dress, she wears everything beautifully.

 

Shradha Agarwal

What do you think of Ranbir’s Rockstar look? Tell t2@abp.in