Ritu’s Midnight dream

[1]

While Bollywood may have to wait for couturier Ritu Kumar to pick up a project as a costume designer, internationally Kumar has been making waves with her designs in films like Deepa Mehta’s Bollywood Hollywood and son Ashvin Kumar’s Little Terrorist followed by The Forest. Kumar is back with a “different film” in her kitty and this time it’s Deepa Mehta’s ambitious film Midnight’s Children based on Salman Rushdie’s Booker prize-winning novel.

Ritu was responsible for the conceptualisation of the look for all the four Muslim weddings in the film. The most challenging part of which was to create vintage costumes reflecting the way of life of India under the colonial rule, in a convincing manner.
The first wedding is set in Kashmir of the 30s and the outfits are designed after detailed research on the royal costumes of the Muslim families — the bride, the groom and the relatives. The study of the sartorial traditions of that period took Ritu back to her book Costumes And Textiles of Royal India, which reveals many of the last surviving examples of traditional royal clothing.
“Deepa wanted somebody who had done extensive research on the topic to design for the weddings. I was very excited when she picked me for the project. When Deepa came to Delhi, we brainstormed in my studio. It was a mammoth task and took me around six months to create the whole assembly of ensembles,” informs Kumar.
Kumar has used chanderi silk cotton, wool, cashmere, brocade and silk and employed intricate embroidery, zardosi, gold tilla and kiran to fashion the old world charm. A lot of jaali work has also been incorporated along with stylised buti and mango motifs often seen on jaamavar shawls.
“The embroidery used to edge the paat and the gote seams was typical of the Rampur and Avadh courts,” says Kumar.
The fabrics have been sourced from Kumar’s personal collection. “These archival fabrics are rich, luxurious and almost 35 years old. When I fell short of a particular design, I got look-alikes done in Benaras.”
Kumar was also in charge of jewellery, juttis and other accessories. “I have a jewellery designer in me. And I have a huge collection of historic jewel pieces, which I got redesigned in Chandni Chowk and Bikaner for this project,” says Kumar.
A big fan of Rushdie, Kumar was ecstatic when the controversial author sent an autographed copy of Midnight’s Children for Kumar. “I thoroughly enjoyed being part of the venture and I am open to doing similar films,” she says.
So does that mean she is ready to enter Bollywood? “Why not? However, it totally depends on the concept and how much research I am supposed to do. I love to explore as it’s very enriching. The project has to be challenging enough for me to be a part of it,” expresses Kumar.
These ensembles will be exhibited as part of an exposition on Vintage Indian Textiles & Craft Forms at the Ritu Kumar flagship store at Crescent Store, on October 23 and 24.