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There has been criticism levelled at Preity Zinta recently for wearing a sequinned denim mini skirt when her character in Karan Johar’s Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna is supposed to be a fashion editor. Some fashionistas have slammed it as inappropriate dressing keeping the character in mind. But before we take sides we can take a look at the long route fashion in movies have taken. Movies are a visual treat. In two dimension, we get to see stories and dramas enacted for us, for our entertainment. Right from the beginning, the discerning filmmaker took care to see that all the elements of his movie pleased the viewing public. Which included a good story, good locales, good looking actors with good clothes. Even as early as 1948 the costume drama Chitralekha wowed the audiences by its grandoise sets and beautiful costumes. By 1951 the movies were getting slicker and we were treated to the beautiful Madhubala wearing pretty diphanous sarees and trendy boyish clothes in movies like Mr. & Mrs 55 and Chalti ka Naam Gadi. But the lady who really had followers for her style was Sadhana. Sadhana’s famous fringe came to be known as Sadhana cut. She practically invented the churidars. These were supposed to be worn under a frock like top worn by muslim girls. Sadhna wore the tight churidar under a kurta and started a trend that never went away. Waqt was a movie that set off a trend of sorts. It was a multistarer, Balraj Sahni, Raj Kumar, Sunil Dutt and Shashi Kapoor with the beautiful Achla Sachdev, stylish Sadhna and trendy Sharmila. The look and feel of the movie was lavish and the costumes and hair of of the ladies, very trendy. Women saw the movie time and time over, wishing to copy the various salwar kameezes, sarees, hair clips and do’s. Pale lipstick with heavy eyeliner became the accepted way to make up the face. The bouffant became more and more pronounced with each new movie, with strips of hair pasted down the side of the face. The eyeliner became thicker and blacker, lips pouty and pale pink. Some people even wondered how the women managed to act, being so trussed. Sharmila Tagore propogated this look to the accompaniment of many a nakhra and tosses of the head. was a movie that set off a trend of sorts. It was a multistarer, Balraj Sahni, Raj Kumar, Sunil Dutt and Shashi Kapoor with the beautiful Achla Sachdev, stylish Sadhna and trendy Sharmila. The look and feel of the movie was lavish and the costumes and hair of of the ladies, very trendy. Women saw the movie time and time over, wishing to copy the various salwar kameezes, sarees, hair clips and do’s. Pale lipstick with heavy eyeliner became the accepted way to make up the face. The bouffant became more and more pronounced with each new movie, with strips of hair pasted down the side of the face. The eyeliner became thicker and blacker, lips pouty and pale pink. Some people even wondered how the women managed to act, being so trussed. Sharmila Tagore propogated this look to the accompaniment of many a nakhra and tosses of the head. Later the women rid the rigid churidar or sarees routine and slipped into the easy tights with kurta. Bouffant still in place, eyes slanted with the liberal application of the eyeliner, Asha Parekh danced with abandon and sang ‘Aa aa aaja’ in Teesri Manzil, with Shammi Kapoor shaking his head and hands. But even then, the movies followed a kind of a trend. In the courtship scenes, usually with the heroine slapping the hero at least once and yelling ‘You Rascal’, the girl wore salwar or churidar or tights. Later, after the wooing was done, she would slip into a saree. Maybe to let the public know that here was a serious homemaker, not a frivolous college girl. But the movie that changed that was Bobby. Dimple wears frocks and mini’s throughout the movie, giving it a youthful look. Thankfully, almost for the first time the teenagers in the movie were teenagers, and not middle aged people. Rishi and Dimple set the mood by wearing trendy clothes throughout. Dimple wore hardly any makeup and her hair was let loose naturally. Zeenat Aman brought in the trendy simple looks by wearing pantsuits and short skirts with hair parted in the middle without any frills. Suddenly the nation’s young people breathed easy and wore bell bottoms and the casual look really came into vogue. By 80s there were really young heroines like Neelam who dressed like any other youngster. Sridevi could wear anything, pants, salwaars and sarees. Some more Yash Chopra films ushered in new fashions, the white salwar kurta in Chandani, the blue saree in Mr. India. The atrocious make up was firmly out of the picture and the look was either very ghaerlu – as favored by Jaya Prada, with a long plait, gajra and saree. Or skirts and dresses and khajuri choti worn by Neelam. But 90s started the revolution in dress designing. Starting with Rangeela when Manish Malhotra designed the entire look of Urmila Matondkar, seeing that she lost weight and looked great in the trendy clothes he handpicked for her, overseeing the makeup to create the gamin look. From then on, the movie heroine could not afford to look gauche. She has discovered personal trainers. No more thunder thighes or thick biceps. The lady is kept toned, her skin clear and blemish free. Her hair is streaked or coloured and conditioned. Her clothes are designed to suit her personality and the character she plays in the movie. Karisma Kapoor, sister Kareena, Preity Zinta, Rani Mukherjee, Aishwarya Rai are some of the beneficiaries of this new trend. Rani Mukherjees long dowdy skirts were in keeping with the character she played as Michelle in Black. The same lady wore lovely sarees in as the bengali woman in Yuva, and burst out in trendy clothes in Hum Tum and Chalte Chalte. These days women routinely look for garish wedding clothes at the saas bahu TV serials and young girls seek to pick up fashion tips from the various movies playing around the town. |
