“Khel Dilli se hi shuru hota hai “(the game starts only from Delhi). Seated in his chamber at his modest outlet in West Delhi’s Karampura, R.K.Singh sounds prophetic. Way back in 1957 when he first set foot in Delhi to play a soccer match, Singh had no inkling that his life was soon going to change. Economic reasons ensured that he never returned to Lucknow. Instead, he joined Delhi Cloth Mill and tried his luck at making costumes for sportspersons.
Today there is hardly any sportsperson who is not knocking at his outlet. Sushil Kumar, Abhinav Bindra, Vijendra Singh, Jwala Gutta, Karnam Malleshwari and Sardar Singh may be from different disciplines but have one common destination for securing their sports costumes.
As a former sportsperson, Singh had the fortune of being invited to various sports meets. And at every event he would use that opportunity for showcasing his sportswear. “My interest in original sports attire developed due to my keenness in sports. To get appropriately designed shorts, I would go to Patiala for my personal use. In 1980 I opened the shop from my home at Karampura. My wife used to stitch clothes. Then I did two years course in tailoring from Delhi. Slowly we hired assistants. In 1990 my son joined and since then business increased,” reminisces Singh.
And it is this popularity among sportspersons which has now percolated to film industry as films are being made on or around these champions. Soon Salman Khan would be wearing costumes supplied by him in Sultan.
Explaining how his brand Shiv-Naresh is being used in one film after the other, Singh says: “All leading sportspersons, be it Sushil Kumar or Mary Kom, have been coming to us since they were grappling to make a mark. Now through the word of mouth film people have started coming to us.”
“Sushil Kumar has been coming to us for the past 16 years. When he first came here we did not know that his hard work would take him that far. Now the whole nation knows him. Even if he is sitting on stage, he rushes to greet me and makes me sit with him, “ says Singh.
Sushil can be seen in the brand’s calendar hung among several photographs of sportspersons in the shop. “When Sushil speaks about yoga, he wears our T-shirt. Now if a film is made on wrestling then naturally Sushil’s expertise would be used.”
“In Sultan, Salman’s costumes are in “quarter, half and full sublimation. “The costume is made of lycra imported from Taiwan as it is more stretchable. Lycra is able to absorb sweat and helps when the shooting goes on for long hours,” explains Singh.
Ashley Rebello, Salman’s stylist-designer, confirms Singh’s role. “We followed Sushil Kumar’s look. He was quite helpful; he showed us his wardrobe so that we get a good idea of what all is needed to play a wrestler on the screen. It was tips from Sushil that led us to find Shiv-Naresh in Delhi.”
Not just Sushil, even Mary Kom has been frequenting their outlet since she was a wannabe pugilist. “Mary has been coming to us since she was a teenager,” reflects the septuagenarian while showing her pictures with him.
“When the biopic on Mary’s life was made, the filmmaker had to show original costume. So he had no option but to approach us. Priyanka Chopra wore our dress In Azhar also Emraan Hashmi wore our sports costume.” Singh could also prove to be the unofficial connecting link between Sultan and Dangal.
.From 1980 to 2016 sports costume has undergone various due to specialisation in industrial yarns. “Polyester is also used in our costumes as sweat gets absorbed and evaporates fast. Earlier, it was not considered skin-friendly but lately lot of development has taken place in synthetic yarn. We desist from using cotton as it is a natural yarn and cannot change its properties. It cannot be stretched and has four times weight. After ten minutes body would get sticky,” says Shiv P. Singh, one of his two sons on whose names Singh named the brand.
Singh says his is an active sportswear brand while multinationals are largely for passive market in India. “Their shoes might be used by sportspersons but their apparel is for the upper middle class.” Part of the reason, Shiv says, is that they are so expensive that a sportsperson from the grassroots cannot afford to buy them. “They target upper middle class while we supply essentially to sportspersons at a price which is much lower than the multinationals. These brands are not our competitors,” says Shiv emphatically.
