After Devdas and Jodhaa Akbar, Bollywood designer Neeta Lulla hopped on to a time machine to recreate costumes and accessories for a teleseries on Shivaji, the 17th century Maratha ruler. She tells Shweta Shiware how Raj Thackeray taught her the trick to tying a turban
A still from Raja Shivchatrapati
After Devdas and Jodhaa Akbar, Bollywood designer Neeta Lulla hopped on to a time machine to recreate costumes and accessories for a teleseries on Shivaji, the 17th century Maratha ruler. She tells Shweta Shiware how Raj Thackeray taught her the trick to tying a turban
Back in school, history was one of Neeta Lulla's least favourite of subjects. But working on period dramas including Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas, Ashutosh Gowarikar's Jodhaa Akbar and Nitin Desai's Raja Shivchatrapati (currently on air, Monday-Wednesday at 8.30 pm on Star Pravah), she has learnt more about history as a costume director than she could have sitting on a school bench. The epic drama premiered to coincide with the launch of the new Marathi channel, and Neeta admits to having spent six months researching the life and times of Shivaji (1630-1680), the Maratha king who successfully resisted Muslim rulers in the 17th century.
"I was involved from day one, from the time the team sat for story sessions, in order to understand the nuances of the Maratha warrior. Several rounds of discussions with historian Baba Saheb Purandare helped because he was able to advise me on detail, whether it had to do with costume, style or cut," says Neeta.
Although a series meant for television, the makers were keen to lend it an ostentatious feel usually associated with cinema, and since it aimed to encapsulate the Maratha ruler's life from his birth in 1630 to his Rajya Abhishek in 1674, it was imperative that Neeta took a trip down the history-soaked hubs in Maharashtra, namely Kolhapur, Satara and Sangli, to meet Sambhaji Raje a descendent of Shivaji, and historians Kasar, Shirish Gopal Deshpande and Purshottam Khedekar.
With a detailed brief in tow, Neeta travelled to source the Paithani, a handwoven silk saree with oblique square design, and a peacock motif pallu, native to Paithan region in Maharashtra, and worked with PN Gadgil jewellers to design the royal accessories.
A generation of viewers in the grip of quicksand lure of modernism may make up the audience, but Neeta doesn't mind taking an occasional sojourn to recreate lost glory. In the recent past, most period
dramas have been associated with her. "It's easy to design clothes that have accessible reference points.
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Although a long-drawn process, the idea behind creating outfits for Raja Shivchatrapati, was to make today's audience relate to it. It was about taking something classic, and lending it a modern twist," says the designer, who plans to create watered down versions of the same for her upcoming collection.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Raj Thackeray was on of the advisory board, and was especially helpful when it came to educating Neeta about the art of tying the pagdi (turban). "He explained the importance of the pagdi during the period of the benevolent Raja. The colours, fabric and drape are used to project all that Shivaji stood for."
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