Twenty-six years into fashion and film costumes, Manish Malhotra makes his theatre debut with Mughal-e-Azam
Manish Malhotra and team worked on 550 costumes over three months. Pic/Bipin Kokate
Manish Malhotra's bridal clients will have to wait. Bang in the middle of prepping for the wedding season, the trousseau designer, who is also a famed Bollywood designer, is tearing himself away this week to station at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) where the theatrical adaptation of K Asif's 1960 film, Mughal-e-Azam is being rehearsed. He has been assigned the crucial task of designing the costumes of the Feroz Abbas Khan production, backed by the Shapoorji Pallonji Group.
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“It's a project of passion, not to make money or prove a point. I don't need to do that,” he says between chats with a production assistant and his team of trusted tailors.
The interest stems from Manish's list of all-time favourite films, Pakeezah, Awaara, Yash Chopra productions and Mughal-e-Azam. “My mother, Sudershan, and I are early risers, and a ritual we follow with our cup of morning tea is to watch songs from Pakeezah or Mughal-e-Azam, and discuss the costumes. We choose not to discuss people, but deliberate on the clothes,” he says, affirming his repute as Hindi film buff.
The story of doomed love, the character of a prince who couldn't fight in the face of legacy, the dialogues — more theatrical than filmi — continue to draw Manish to the film.
And although he hasn't helmed a period film anytime in his 26-year-long career, experience on large-scale productions made him the first choice for the musical.
Feroz admits he is a minimalist. “The larger-than-life scale of costumes goes against my grain. Luckily for me, Manish understands glamour. He is more than a costume designer… he is a collaborator on this production.”
By glamour, Manish clarifies, Feroz doesn't mean off-shoulders and skin show. “Mughal-e-Azam, for its time, was a glamorous film. Its opulence was unreal, almost. My signature comes through in the use of colour, embroidery not sequins, and the reliance on rich brocades, silks and velvet,” he says about the wardrobe that took three months to make.
Manish and team are behind not just the protagonists' ensembles but also the entire cast, including understudies, totalling 550 outfits.
“The original version featured megastars like Madhubala, Prithviraj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar. Here, I am designing for actors. I had to be careful to create costumes that support, not overpower, the actors.” Swift costume changes backstage mean that the tailoring had to be durable. Velcro came to the rescue. No zips and buttons on any costume, Manish reveals.
Post Friday's premiere, Manish will return to the brides-in-waiting, he smiles, adding, “I hope the play is a success.”
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