Best Costume Design
Costuming and
fashion are so vital to the show business, that the glam quotient of standard
films [those not beholden to a period or milieu] manage to steal the limelight.
I mean how gorgeous
was Aishwarya Rai in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, it's not just her looks though but
also the way she is presented in all her glory.
Then we have
costumes that just don't know what they are doing, not only don't they feel
like they don't belong but rather distract and are used in such a silly manner.
A prime example being this years funniest film; Mohenjo Daro.
As mentioned last
year, costumes are important in film as they act as a second skin for an actor.
A layer to allow them the easy passage of going from star/celebrity to
character.
So here goes...
Maxima Basu for Dangal
From the detail
oriented wrestling attire to Mahavir's real to life kurta, from the crafted
underwears of local wrestler to the gender infused change of clothes between
the simple Indian dress into the knicker and shorts for young Geeta and Babita
Phogat.
All clothes fit in
perfect line with the situation and place, absolutely sticking in the backdrop
of the look of the film and adding to an easy visual treat rather than
distraction from performances and story.
As has been said
time and again, the genius of great technical support is in its ability to be
invisible without taking away from the film or the efforts.
Pia Benegal for Aligarh
Where as the makeup
and hair externalizes the internal feel and scope of its characters issues,
failing but not needing to make Bajpayee look like Siras. The costume does the
absolute opposite and dresses its lead in the clothes that would make Bajpayee a
genuine clone of the real Siras.
The clothes through
the film, and I say clothes rather than costumes because of the genuine sense
of reality they echo; are indicative of character. Siras's look gives the
approach of a man meticulous yet modest in his clothing, Deepu dresses with a
modern slick sensibility, his boss with extravagant sarees while in a nice
juxtapose Siras's love absolutely down trodden.
All this adds
wonders to the sexual sensitivity dichotomy of love scene between the two
couplings.
Theia Tekchandaney for Neerja
Neerja's beauty if
exemplified in not just how well the film centres the heroic act with pathos,
but how a simple thing as costuming could have been haphazardly done and the
masses the film very much caters to wouldn't have cared the slightest.
After all Pan-Am
went down years ago, yet the research quality of team Neerja is absolutely off
the wall as the classy and high end dresses of the Pan Am pilots and hostesses
is captured with genius. In a nice contrast, there is a scruffiness to the false
uniforms the terrorists wear.
Each character is
dressed in genuine character. From Neerja's frilly and free flowing attires of
her spirited nature, to her sober drawn out clothes reflecting a sadness in the
flashbacks, to Rama Bhanot's typical sober Punjabi mother dresses to every passenger
on the plane seeming from around the world.
Everything is well
thought out and equally well dressed up.
Ashima Belapurkar for Parched
In Parched the
distinct Rajasthani flavour is goregeously presented in the varying dresses of
its women, there's a distinct style to each of the women's wear dependent
subtly on their situation in society and brimming with vibrant colours.
Rani, a widow is
consistently seen in black until the very end where a certain touch of colour
albeit darker opens up a new world for her. Lajjo keeps her clothes draped as
is the norm, but blossoms in different colours while Bijlee absolutely shimmers
in exotic yet Indian wears with a bit of show and tell as is apt with her open
attitude.
There's a nice non
judgemental adjustment to the wear especially when between the women alone,
apart from the sly dig at the way a dress embodies not only character but
status.
Still despite all of
this, the milieu adds a nice texture to the clothing yet the costuming is as
glamorous as should be in character to cinema.
Veera Kapur for Pink
As with the above,
Pink very much dresses its lead women in varied clothes with a distinct touch
of character to each.
So for example if
Meenal is a model, she wears high end or simply casual clothes as is want of a
young modern woman. The more conservative Falak Ali is seen in sober coloured
Indian dresses while Andrea Tarang equally wears an array of modern stylised clothes
but maybe not as flashy as Meenal.
Dependent on your
outlook then, the film welcomes you to judge them just enough to be proven
wrong and dealt a blow that abuse against women never comes with an eye on
clothes. Wear a bikini, wear a bhurkha, clothes don't matter; it is your
choice, it doesn't define you and more importantly No means No in any wear.
A final shout out to
that gas mask as worn by Bachchan sir, not only does it give him an early
questionable fearsome outlook but also points at the poisonous air in Delhi and
its societies literally and figuratively.
And the Winner is...
Ashima Belapurkar for Parched!!!
So Parched secures another strong win in a tough category, seems like Radhika Apte is a lucky charm :D
Up Next: Around the costumes to the background...Best Production Design
'Nuff Said
Aneesh Raikundalia
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