By Puja Gupta
New Delhi, Feb 6 (SocialNews.XYZ) "I sometimes fail to understand that why there's a subtle disdain between cinema and fashion. I feel both are creative mediums and the merging of two makes it a brilliant case," says designer Manish Malhotra who received the Filmfare Award of Honour for 30 years of outstanding contribution in Bollywood fashion.
Malhotra, who had received the first ever technical awards category added to the Filmfare - Costume Designer of the Year for Rangeela in 1995, has completed three decades in costume designing.
"My journey from a technical costume designer to a fashion house feels like a full circle today. I'm proud of my journey and want to thank everyone who have been directly or metaphorically been a part of this amazing journey, and Filmfare, especially for being so supportive of my work," the designer tells IANSlife in an exclusive interview.
"It's been 30 years now to have been working with the fourth generation of actors today with all the new gang of super talented future stars of our country. Over 1,000 movies, I've stopped keeping a count of it now."
The veteran is now working on another Karan Johar's mega project "Takht" which will be released next year. "With all the universe grace work is still in the same pace today".
"I've recently lost my dad. He passed away at 93. One thing I've learnt from him was to never stop. He worked until 91 and stalled the work only when health didn't allow him to do so. So, at 53, I feel I'm just halfway through and I've miles to go from here," Malhotra tells IANSlife.
He says in his journey of three decades in Bollywood he has seen how cinema and fashion has changed. "While I miss those creatively saturated sets and the heroines whose make-up remained intact during the entire reel time, I also admire the kind of cinema we've today -- relatable, inclusive and above all original."
"If you see the early 40s, films like "Andaz" which is the first film with a triangle love story with Raj Kapoor and Nargis and Dilip Kumar, you have to see their style. If you see Raj Kapoor's earlier films, Bimal Roy's films, they had a different, very earthy very realistic style. But if you see Raj Kapoor, you see the grandeur of not only style of clothes, but even the interiors. So there was a lot of style that India had for years. 60s was so pleasant and beautiful, 70s was about flower power. But I think the late 80s became a lot of loud and gaudy. It was so off. For me, I was influenced by the 70s," the designer notes.
He further adds: "It was glamour meets realism. 'Rangeela' brought the girl next door, believable clothes but yet very glamorous. That blend is difficult to crack, though it seems easy."
With the social media tree, there's an influx of knowledge and people know everything happening anymore instantly, he says.
"Bollywood is seeing actors who are very trendy and fashionable and stylish. Clothes and things have changed because cinema has are gone a lot more into realism. It's now a lot more about real character rather than glamour. I think it is getting more and more realistic," he concludes.
(Puja Gupta can be contacted at puja.g@ians.in)
Source: IANS
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