Designer Anju Modi was earlier doubtful about designing for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus Bajirao Mastani due to its grandeur, but eventually took up the challenge.
Modi earlier collaborated with Bhansali on his 2013 love saga Ram Leela and earned praise for her work, especially for Deepika Padukone’s outfits.
The designer said the filmmaker had confidence in her skills and offered her Bajirao Mastani while they were working on Ram Leela.
“There is good synergy between us. I was contemplating whether to do the film or not,” Modi told PTI.
“It [designing for ‘Bajirao Mastani’] was going to be a tough task as it would take a lot of time, energy and hard work. But I decided to take up the challenge,” she said.
Modi got emotional when she first heard the script of Bajirao Mastani. “I was in tears. The film had a huge impact on me. I had to understand all the three characters and then work on the looks.”
To get the nuances right, the designer had to do a lot of research for the three main characters — Bajirao played by Ranveer Singh, Mastani essayed by Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra as Kashibai, the first wife of Bajirao.
“I went to Pune and Nashik to understand the culture of Maharashtra. I went to villages, met people. I had to transport myself to the 17th, 18th century.”
Modi said while she got nauvari sarees for Chopra, she designed shararas and anarkalis for Padukone.
“Chopra’s look had to be Indian. We got her nauvari sarees and blouses and shawls. Padukone’s character is Muslim, so we had sharara, anarkali, long kurti, gharara for her. Singh is Peshwa Bajirao, so the look had to be royal. He was given kurta, turban, dhoti and long jackets,” the designer said.
