Designer duo, Rimple and Harpreet Narula, will be stepping into Bollywood with critically acclaimed director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus, Padmavati. This period drama is based on life of Rani Padmavati from 13th century era in Chittor and is slated to release in November this year. The movie features Deepika Padukone in the lead role, with Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh playing important roles. Here are excerpts from their interview.

Q: How was your experience of working with Sanjay Leela Bhansali?

A: Working with Mr Bhansali was a fabulously inspirational experience for us. He is a master of his craft, a perfectionist with a great eye for detail.The process of creating the costumes for the project was a new learning experience every day.

It is fascinating how the characters Mr Bhansali envisions become real people who we interact with every day on the sets. Besides showcasing our creations on three of the finest muses a designer can have, we have understood that he does not want mere clothes but clothes express the character’s nuances and bring out the emotional journeys these characters undertake as they make their way through the narrative.

Q: How were you roped in for this magnum opus?

A: Our collections have always been research-based, digging into the vast archive that is found in our cultural and textile heritage and reinterpreting centuries-old techniques.

Our last two collections — “The Eternal Wanderlust” was based on the nomadic tribes of the North West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) while “Maharadjah and Co” was based on the erstwhile Indian rulers of the Raj-era — along with our other past work with various royal families is what most probably caught Mr Bhansali’s eye as his latest venture deals with royalties of 13th century India.

We got a call from his office for an initial meeting and instead of taking our existing work we did some research on Rani Padmawati and pulled out various old textiles from our personal collection. The whole meeting went off quite well with some impromptu look tests using those textiles we did with Mr Bhansali and during the course of the meeting it became apparent that we were in sync with his vision.

Q: How challenging was it to work with Bhansali?

A: Besides having a great eye for detail, visionary opulent sets and a larger than life depiction of grandeur, Mr Bhansali is a great storyteller. During the initial stages of the project, Mr Bhansali and his team took us through the script in order to understand the flow of the narrative and nuances of each character as the garments have to enhance the same.

We have used robust, earthy, luxe-kitsch elements and as designers it was very interesting since various contradictory cultures come together through the course of the narrative — the Sinhalese princess who becomes a Rajput queen, the Afghan invader who becomes the Sultan of Delhi.

The elements used show how every region leaves its stamp on the textiles and costumes, how one motif can have different meanings given the region and the culture. For example, the paisley can represent both a date sapling in Islamic iconography or a raw mango (keri) in Hindu traditions.

Q: How much research was required for this project?

A: We have done intensive research on the period by way of going through old travellers’ accounts from that era as well as regular visits to the Calico and Jaipur museums to get the touch-feel-look right. We had to refer to a lot of miniature paintings, murals and frescoes to get the nuances of the styling as close to how they used to be.

Q: How did you recuperate from the damages after the set burnt down?

A: The incident was a huge setback for us emotionally. A lot of hard work, sweat and toil had gone into creating the costumes that got damaged and many of the pieces had actual antique textiles that were incorporated in the designs, which were irreplaceable. Luckily we had managed back-ups and the really ornate pieces had already been filmed.

—The Statesman / India

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2017