It was refreshing: Niharika Khan

Stylist Niharika Khan worked against all the odds in The Dirty Picture, but says her struggle to make Silk, played by Vidya Balan, look more silky than vulgar in the hit movie, has paid rich dividends in the form of a National Award.

"I would have liked to receive the National Award but I didn't think it would happen so soon in my career and definitely not for this film... now I have to do better and that leaves me very little scope for errors and misjudgements," said the designer, who has been in Bollywood just five years.

Khan was named best costume designer with Neeta Lulla at the 59th National Awards.

"Designing for Balan was refreshing. As a designer I always suggest that women need to be proud and happy for what they are and not for what they are not. And the acceptance of a full-figured woman in the days of size zero only further consolidates my belief that design and fashion are made to suit the body," she said.