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The art of design
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Costume designer Anna Singh tells P. ANIMA what inspires her
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Photo: R. Shivaji Rao
Designer angst Anna Singh: ’People like me who believe in hardcore creativity are suffering now’
Anna Singh dabbles with the finery of a Moghul empress and the look of a chic girl next door with equal finesse. With over 700 films behind her in a career spanning two decades, costume designer Anna admits it is difficult to find inspiring work.
But it is the challenge that a “Taj Mahal” or an “Umrao Jaan” poses that makes her day. She took home the National Award last year for bringing alive an era in costumes for “Taj Mahal.” Now, it is another project that has taken her back “to work.” The much-hyped directorial venture of Ajay Devgan, “U, Me or Hum”, to be released this Friday, has revived Anna’s spirits. Working for a long-time friend and a committed director who gave her all the creative freedom makes “U, Me or Hum” special.
Excerpts from a conversation with the designer.
There is a lot of hype around “U, Me aur Hum.” Besides being Devgan’s directorial venture, it also brings back Kajol and Devgan together on screen after a considerable gap. From a designer’s point of view, how have you approached the film?
“U, Me or Hum” has been a fantastic experience. Firstly, I have been taking care of Ajay’s personal wardrobe for over five years now. He is a person who leaves it to you totally. The colours used in the film are extremely refreshing. We sat and worked on each character’s look. The characters have a very real appearance as imagined by its director.
Whom have you designed for in the film and what is the look you have given them?
I have done the entire cast, except Kajol, whose clothes were done by her personal designer Manish Malhotra. I made the costume for the primary and secondary cast and also the junior artistes. In terms of costume, Ajay’s character is divided into two phases. I have given him a happy and bright, sun-coloured look for the cruise phase, and as a medical professional, he is mostly dressed in nice suits. Since he plays a person in the medical field, I had very little liberty designing for that phase.
Other members of the cast like Karan Khanna have a flamboyant look. He dresses like any young guy today with lots of accessories. Isha Sharvani looks very funky but not over the top. Sumeet Raghavan and Divya Dutta have been dressed keeping in the mind the different situations. The look is not glossy but realistic. The costumes are done in such a way that the audience can relate to the characters. Even for the dance sequence with the Salsa dancers, the outfits are authentic. There is a deliberate attempt at looking fresh and happy. Colours have been used intelligently.
You have designed for challenging projects like “Taj Mahal” and “Umrao Jaan” as well as out-and-out commercial ventures. How do you strike a balance?
People like me who believe in hardcore creativity are suffering now. Costume designing in films has now come down to a great shopping spree with the international brands here. The designer has to do very little. It is the whole experience of designing that movies like “Taj Mahal”, “Umrao Jaan” and “U, Me aur Hum” give that is missing. These movies broke the stagnancy and took me back to work. In “U, Me Aur Hum”, I was designing for a friend and it was like my own home production. It had specific requirements, and the personal involvement was also higher.
Otherwise, designing for commercial movies has become a natural reflex. In two hours, I can do the entire cast on paper.
How has costume designing in Bollywood changed over the years?
Things have changed in terms of the appearance of actors. Years ago, when Jackie Shroff appeared, his clothes spoke for him. I did not design the same way for Jackie and Sanjay Dutt, who had his own individual look. Even among the heroines, Madhuri Dixit never looked like Sridevi or the others. But today, each one of them looks like the other.
What can we expect from you next?
I am opening a new store with a completely new line. I have just finished working for a Sooraj Barjatya production, and then there is Subhash Ghai’s “Yuvraj.”
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