How Manish Malhotra made us fall in love with each character with the beautiful breathtaking outfits adorned by them in ‘Kalank’ movie
After Mughal-e-Azam it was the first ever historical period movie that Manish Malhotra was working on that dwelves into two fictional worlds of Husnabad (Hindu-dominated) and Heera Mandi (Muslim-dominated). Every character was on a different dimension in the movie and that required different styling, jewellery and colour choices for Individual characters depending on what they were going through in the movie.
Outfits, colours and lighting play a major role in any movie and by outfits I mean the entire look of a person from head to toe because that is what brings the entire feel and mood of the film and connects you with the storyline. Even though being a modern designer Manish Malhotra could not make the actors and actresses wear something that a modern day attire would look like because he needs to study the script and the period in which the movie is set which in this case was Pakistan (1945-1947) and so outfits had to made in accordance to what people used to wear in those times. This required months of research and endless talks with his parents to understand more about the cuts, silhouettes and embroidery of those times.
Let’s dwelve into the costumes and jewellery of each character very closely:
MADHURI DIXIT AS BAHAAR BEGUM:
Bahaar begum lives in Heera Mandi and is an experienced Singer and Dancer. She has sartorial sensibilities which describes a lifestyle relating to a love for classic, timeless garments made with the highest level of craftsmanship, something which is flashy yet elegant and that is what makes her pick up deep colours and sometimes pastel shades. Her character embodies heavy and intricate jewellery and embroidery that reflect the legacy she comes from. she is lonely and she loves the art of dressing. Along with the intricate jewellery another very important feature of her outfits are the flowy ghagras that twirl beautifully as she would take turns while dancing.
A post shared by Madhuri Dixit (@madhuridixitnene)
This movie mainly highlighted the four characters of Zafar(Varun Dhawan), Roop (Alia Bhatt),Dev Chaudhary(Aditya Roy Kapoor) and Satya(Sonakshi Sinha) because their lives were going through different phases and Madhuri Dixit’s character was mostly running on the same track except for the last part of the film where all her bad memories were revived and she was in pain and being a dance and music teacher was more prominently shown in the songs.
Her look in the song ‘Ghar More Pardesiya’ was the one where she was seen wearing a pastel pink and blue Pakistani Gharara which is quite flowy at the bottom and has been paired with short full- sleeved kameez/kurti and a dupatta tucked on the shoulders with an ornate pin taken in a U- shape on the front in such a way that it does not hinder the beautiful repeated gold print on the pastel pink base. There is also a lot of use of different types of embroideries including the Zari-Zardozi to accentuate the look of the Gharara and the bold border of the dupatta and the kurti. Also the intricate version to Bahaar Begum’s ghararas and shararas has been given by incorporating a bit of a Sozni, Kashmiri and Persian touch. Her makeup has been done in such a way that makes her look much more experienced and mature whereas Alia Bhatt’s character as Roop has been shown as a young face with a subtle and muted makeup.
A post shared by Madhuri Dixit (@madhuridixitnene)
Talking about the jewellery of both Alia Bhatt and Madhuri Dixit in this particular song ,as mentioned earlier Bahaar Begum’s character played by Madhuri Dixit always wears rich jewellery and over here her look has been completed with gold Rani haar embellished with Kundan and Pearls, heavy Chandbalis, Maang tika and adding to it the beautiful ornate rings or hathphool and heavy gold bangles. She has kept braided hair and a beautiful juda pin attached with her earrings through a number of strings which is called Maharani juda pin and is an exceptional accessory. On the other if we look at Alia Bhatt in the same song she also has braided hair and an ornate pin attached in the middle of her hair at the back but the jewellery is very minimalistic involving some Chandbalis and an ornate ring in on hand and gold bangles in both hands. The neck has been kept empty to draw focus towards the beautiful embroidered neckline of the short kurti that Roop (Alia Bhatt) is wearing. There is also a small bindi on Alia Bhatt’s forehead because she is now married to Dev Chaudhary whereas Bahaar Begum remained unmarried throughout her life, so there is not bindi on her forehead.
One could also observe a lot of threadwork embroidery in Alia Bhatt’s kurti as well as in Dev Chaudhary’s(Aditya Roy Kapoor) sherwanis and kurta which is mainly Kashmiri threadwork or cotton silk threadwork embroidery that gives it a sophisticated and a royal look. Also Alia Bhatt’s outfit has the use of Chantily lace on the sleeve border with embroidery because during those times this was very trendy.
ADITYA ROY KAPOOR AS DEV CHAUDHARY
Bahaar Begum in the song ‘First class’
This song was the one where there is a depiction of two parallel worlds of Zafar on one hand and Roop getting married to Dev Chaudhary and we are introduced to the place of Heera Mandi and the people living there as well as their lifestyle and we suddenly see Madhuri Dixit coming out from the place where she teaches singing and dancing. As you can see the frame consists of Bahaar Begum( Madhuri Dixit) in the center in a deep red ghagra with full sleeved choli covered with butta block print design. There is a lot of old world gold embroidery all over the ghagra and floor length heavy dupatta taken over her head with nazakata. The way her fingers are holding the dupatta from one end gives the feel of how women were shown in the miniature paintings. The crisscross hathphool has been designed in such a way that it covers the entire hand. Also to complete the look has been paired a heavy passa jewellery and Chandbalis. There is also a grand old world setting behind her,the big doors and pillars.
Also in this movie Kiara Advani’s special appearance was seen and one of her major outfits out of the few she was made to wear was in this particular song itself when she was dancing with Zafar(Varun Dhawan) where she is wearing a deep pink brocade v-neckline full-sleeved blouse and a beautiful embroidered white lehenga with contrasting bottle green dupatta paired with matching green passa jewellery, polki Chandbali earrings , Maang tika and a very heavy ornate hathphool.
A post shared by KIARA (@kiaraaliaadvani)
This particular look of Kiara Advani in terms of dancing and costumes took major inspiration from “Madhubala”
A post shared by KIARA (@kiaraaliaadvani)
A post shared by KIARA (@kiaraaliaadvani)
ALIA BHATT AS ROOP
Initially Roop has been shown running behind a kite in her hometown in Rajasthan. she was a young and free girl roaming from one place to another. So as you can see she has her hair open flying in the air beautifully and throughout the movie there was a subtle makeup and because Alia Bhatt’s character goes through different phases . Initially there is also this romantic phase where we see her in more lighter shades and pastels but then there is a more intense phase where she picks up deeper shades. This outfit for instance was intentionally created to look like a typical Rajasthani ghagra Choli with bright coloured borders, mirror work, swatches of famous Rajasthani embroidered bright pieces lined at different places to support the brownish ghagra choli paired with set of oxidised jewellery consisting of Maang tika and jhumkas famous in Rajasthan.
These images depict Alia Bhatt’s iconic wedding look where she can be seen wearing a breathtaking deep red bridal lehenga with gold colour intricate embroidery, a netted dupatta taken over her head with embroidery accentuating the border and to add to the look the jewellery consisting of the Antique gold choker necklace embellished with Pearls and Rubies, Mathapatti, Hathphool, Chandbalis, Nath and 5-lehera set with intricate Kundan and pearl carvings.
On normal days she would have a very simple look with a subtle makeup, Chandbalis, gold bangles and Bindi to complete the look. Her freedom was snatched and therefore there was a change from open hair to braided hair, jewellery choices for her character were also changed, she had to put a veil over her head except for sometimes when she would visit Heera mandi, the place that made her happy whenever she visited.
A post shared by Alia Bhatt ☀️ (@aliaabhatt)
The first incident when Roop and Zafar encounter each other and talk,there was a sudden change in Alia Bhatt’s costume colours to a more deeper Red away from the pastels.In this film Red colour has been a dominant one and represents both hatred and love.Also there was the red concrete floor and zafar’s hands were also covered with a red cloth all supporting and celebrating the occasion of love.
And then there was the bull fighting scene where again Roop wore full deep red attire with a full sleeved salwaar and gharara and there were Maroon tents all over the place and to support the overall scenerio few people in the background were also made to wear red outfits.This all marks the symbol of love of Roop amd hate of zafar growing towards each other initially.
This particular bottle green sharara is also one of the outfits that I loved and we got to see a different look of Alia Bhatt with the hair turned into a bun and jewellery including a gold choker set embellished with kundan and pearls and Chandbalis. The sharara is paired with usual fitted satin silk short kurti having one-fourth sleeves There is also this very Kashmiri and old world embroidery reminiscent of Persia that could also be observed in various outfits throughout the movie. In the movie overall the colour palette is very muted and understated except for few special occasions. The outfits have been made believable to what were used in those times. cotton, vegetable dyes, chikankari, mulmul and net has been used.
SONAKSHI SINHA AS SATYA CHAUDHARY
there is not much to her character as she was going to die because of cancer but allover she was shown in very lighter shades with minimal jewellery maybe a simple gold chain and some jhumkas or Chandbalis. She is always shown in a saree with a high collar blouse and bell sleeves sometimes with a lace at the corner of the sleeves and there is only one flamboyant red saree in the entire movie that we see her in because that’s the only occasion she attends.
when I talk about men there is not much detailing, just some differences have been created in terms of how royal and elegant Dev Chaudhary(Aditya Roy Kapoor) and Balraj Chaudhary (Sanjay Dutt) have to be made to look as compared to Varun Dhawan or Kunal Khemu in the movie and so their outfits are rich on threadwork and high collars and in office or on regular days Dev Chaudhary can be seen wearing a kurta pyjama with sometimes a Nehru jacket on top of the same or a contrasting colour, Gold kadha in right hand, well dressed hair and proper shaving done as oppose to Varun Dhawan’s long hair and no shaved beard. On the other hand Zafar (Varun Dhawan) would be shown as a typical Muslim character wearing a Pathani Kurta Pyjama, Kajal Under the eyes, Ears pierced and wearing a tabeez around his neck.
VARUN DHAWAN AS ZAFAR
The main focus point of Balraj Chaudhary(Sanjay Dutt’s) Outfits were the rich Persian embroidered shawls
In the last scene all the protesting Muslims were seen wearing Muslim caps and blue outfits. The main characters were mostly wearing white as a symbol of end of life for some and love for others. Also there were darker settings to portray intense fighting scenes properly.
All the things listed down here have been create with a lot of research don eon personal level by watching a 3 hour long movie and making self observations as well as referring to some vogue interviews of Manish Malhotra to know more about the facts.
hope you like it! let me know in the comments you favourite look from the movie
thanks for visiting!
fashion 
Brilliant blog…. Reading it was so much fun
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Thanks a ton😊 I am glad you liked it
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Omg…that is so precise information u just give in few minutes…hats off girl!!
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Thanks a ton 😍
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