A display by the oldest body of craftsmen in India sheds lights on the details of costume design and art direction in Indian films
Both original and recreated costumes worn by live models
When you look at a frame, you know that the world that is there, that world has been created." On a Thursday afternoon at the Bombay Arts Society, veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal explains the crux of the job of an art director and a costume designer. The event that Benegal is inaugurating, The Art and Costume Show — put together by the Association of Cine and TV Art Directors and Costume Designers (ACTADCD) — showcases the minute details that go into film-making.
Prasun Basu showcases animatronics created by his studio
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The three-day exhibition is spread across three gallery spaces. The first pays tribute to legendary personalities including Bansi Chandragupta, Baburao Painter, MR Acharekar and Thota Tharani. As you head to the first floor, you are greeted by live models wearing costumes from movies like Rang de Basanti and Mangal Pandey: The Rising among others.
Costumes from Bimal Roy's Devdas (1955). Pics/Pradeep Dhivar
It is only a few minutes later that we run into Lovleen Bains, the designer behind these garments, in the second space that features her work and includes the artistic oeuvre of Pia Benegal, Bhavna Mukatiwala, Niharika Khan and Neeta Lulla as well. The walls are neatly adorned with sketches, photographs and fabric swatches. Benegal has also made a film incorporating footage of her work.
Lovleen Bains
"The event is like history in the making. It took us a month to piece this together," says Bains, while drawing our attention to the details on the medals on Mangal Pandey's uniform from the film. "They have the name of the battles and regiment. And I had to make sure that there were only five medals in total, owing to the time period of 1857. Normal viewers tend to miss out on these things," she explains, adding that there's a story behind every sketch, too — the dress worn by Emily Kent in the film was made overnight as the initial costume was stuck in customs.
Shyam Benegal inaugurates the exhibition
Mukatiwala also highlights the tight time constraints that are a part of the job. "To make each badge or button, there's a lot of hard work involved. For The Legend of Bhagat Singh, the dye for Singh's cap wasn't available and so we had to get the dye made. Then we made the costume. After that, we went on what was supposed to be a three-day shoot in Pune. On the second day we got a call from Rajkumar Santoshi saying that we are shooting the whole film there, while my infrastructure was in Mumbai. We still made it happen, without stalling a minute," she recalls.
Bhavna Mukatiwala
The third space is a mix of installation and set design. On entering, a life-size mechanical dog sings Happy Birthday. Next to it is a gigantic horse, one of the five used in Manikarnika. "It's animatronics — nobody has done this in India," Prasun Basu of Offish Character Arts, the studio behind the creations, tells us. And we're freaking out and fascinated at the same time, but that being said, we don't recall any other exhibition in the city that made us feel that way. It's an educational experience for film enthusiasts. And even if you're not into cinema, it's at least a new world waiting to be explored.
Till February 24, 11 am to 7pm
At KC Marg, Reclamation, Bandra West.
Call 26513466
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