Sabyasaachi talks about the styling of Guzaarish!

Sabyasachi Mukherjee

How was it working with Sanjay Leela Bhansali for the second time after six years (Black)?

I have to tell you, in spite of the fact that both Sanjay and me are such intense people, it was great. I enjoy working with him because he is so methodical and organised. While the rest of the directors are still finding out what to do with their scripts, Sanjay is ready and bound with his script months in advance, everything broken down scene by scene. Sanjay knows exactly what he wants with his set, light and costume. Unless you do that, it is impossible to make a great visual film. You cannot make a visually stunning film unless the director of photography (Sudeep Chatterjee), art director (Sumit Basu) and costume director are in sync.

And in this case there was the great Bong connection ‘in sync’…

Yes. We three Bengalis were on the same page, sharing similar sensibilities.

What is this ‘sensibility’ that Bengalis are notorious for?

Well, for starters it is the respect for detail. Second, it is the approach to aesthetics with a certain degree of subtlety. People say that Sanjay Leela Bhansali and subtlety can’t go hand in hand but if you see Guzaarish you will know what I mean. For instance in the song Tera zikr, when you listen closely you will hear a pianist that comes and goes. That’s the kind of layering I am talking about. It is the same layering that you can see in the costumes and it is the same subtle nuances you can see in the subdued colour palette. Sanjay understands and appreciates my aesthetics and it’s never a struggle for me to explain myself to him or anyone else in the cast and crew. I think 90 per cent of the battle is won when the director agrees to something and then all the actors succumb. Sanjay is so visually sound that people don’t question him. In other cases I have had to sit and have lengthy discussions with actors but not with Guzaarish.

How were Hrithik and Aishwarya to work with?

It was my first time with Hrithik Roshan. When he heard the part he had visualised his character a certain way. I had a completely different idea about how I wanted to dress the character. I didn’t want him to look like a stud; women can fall in love with a man dressed from head to toe. In my mind he was not a James Bond, he was more Clark Kent. I wanted to dress him up in an organic fashion. Hrithik also agreed to the beard. I also had detailed discussions with his hair team.

As for Aishwarya, it was like a song to work with her. In the film, she goes through a bad marriage... in my mind her internal suffering has manifested itself into an over-dressing syndrome. People who are depressed tend to either over-eat or overdress! Aishwarya wears the strangest of clothes. She has such a morbid life that she almost derives comfort from her clothes. She understands the meaning of dressing up for a bedridden person and it is her colours that bring humour to the patient’s life.

The promos look very intriguing and Aishwarya looks very different from her normal pastel-pretty glam chic avatar. What exactly is her Guzaarish look?

Thirty-seven long frocks, four dumpy shoes and one red lipstick! As I said earlier, she is wearing some really strange clothes (smiles). There are maxis, aprons with motifs of cutlery.... She has quirky glasses and red lips. She has some surreal hairdos and quirky jewellery. Her wardrobe is almost schizophrenic. Her silhouettes are prim but the design details like embroidery are like fantasy. She even makes her water bottle wear a jacket that she has made herself! Her character is like the nakshikantha girls who enliven their textiles while singing the hopelessness of their mundane lives. Aishwarya’s wardrobe in the film has a DIY (do-it-yourself) feel to it; you don’t know where she buys her clothes. In one scene she is shown embroidering her clothes so it is hinted that she could be a seamstress too.

How was her Sofia look conceived?

For the look test, I went over with three things — dark Gothic nail paint from Chanel, a YSL red lipstick and glasses. She was sitting in her jeans and T-shirt, talking to Sanjay and I quietly asked someone to braid her hair. Then came the Nana Mouskouri glasses perched on the bridge of her nose and the red lips. Sofia was created. I don’t like to over-intellectualise a look, it has to be very intuitive. Sometimes it is best to show it, not talk about it. If the red lipstick would be rejected in the look test, it would have never been able to make a comeback to Guzaarish.

What’s the big deal about the red lipstick?

The first thing I knew about Sofia was that she would have red lips. Dark red lips are very European and we hardly ever see them in India. In Indian movies all the actresses look identical — dark eyes, pale lips and ironed hair. Maybe red lips will signal a new future for Bollywood. It takes a lot of confidence to be able to pull off red lips and nails. In my opinion, a girl should be able to laugh in red lips. It’s also risque in a way, it’s almost impossible to get into the head of a girl who wears red lipstick, be it Marilyn Monroe, Edith Piaf or Madonna. Sofia uses her red lips not as an accessory but like a weapon! 

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