Several costume designers have moved on to fashion design, or red-carpet dressing. Niharika Bhasin insists she only wants to work with Bollywood if she’s part of the bigger process – of the film, and not just the actor.
If there was ever a time when costume stylists belonged to the platinum club of Bollywood insiders, Niharika Bhasin was definitely leading the way. When she did the 2008 film ‘Rock On!’, she heralded a new contemporary fashion into Bollywood, becoming as much of a star as the lead actors of the musical. I cannot imagine Vidya Balan pulling off ‘The Dirty Picture’, 2011, without Bhasin’s sex-pot costumes (they would later win her the National Award). With 2010’s ‘Band Baaja Baaraat’, the film’s atmosphere came alive thanks to its vivid costumes, despite the cracking chemistry between Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma.
“I wasn’t sure I would be able to do everyday Indian clothes. But I was lucky to have amazing research and prep thanks to Yash Raj Films. Ranveer would be at my house every day– all his auditions would take place at my home. Once he was going to Delhi and I accompanied him. We gatecrashed weddings, snuck into college lectures, shopped at Chandni Chowk– all this to get the language and the look of the film right,” smiles the 53-year-old.
Several costume designers have moved on to fashion design, or red-carpet dressing. Bhasin insists she only wants to work with Bollywood if she’s part of the bigger process – of the film, and not just the actor. “That’s what thrills me the most.” Notably, she is returning to her first love, that of being a contemporary silversmith, as she gets set to revive her jewellery label Akirahin next month. Her gorgeous bugs and fairies, that she first introduced over 20 years ago, will be returning.
To think Bhasin almost didn’t become a stylist. She studied HR and Communications in Seattle before she returned home to Bangalore, where her family lived. “My father worked with the Tata group, and I got a stint making jewellery at Tanishq. This was a time when only family businesses were doing jewellery so it was a very new space. But I soon discovered I couldn’t work in the corporate world. I started Akirahin in 1999, moved to Mumbai and got married soon after,” she married actor Ayub Khan, just weeks before their first-born, Tahura, arrived. She started a multi-designer store called Purple Porcupine, which sold homeware from Sabyasachi and a fresh new line from Malini Ramani.
“My friend Sameer Sharma (director of the iconic ‘Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana’) got me into costumes. I think he really has a knack for picking careers for people, because he got his sister Shanoo Sharma into casting too,” she laughs. Sameer brought director Sudhir Mishra over to Bhasin’s place, and Bhasin refused Mishra’s 2007 film ‘Khoya Khoya Chand’. “I told him I know nothing about costumes or Bollywood, and Sudhir told Sam ‘Please bring her on, Bollywood needs some honest people like her’,” she laughs.
Niharika is also the sister of Arjun Bhasin, the Hollywood costume stylist behind films such as ‘Life of Pi’, ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist and this year’s ‘Ms Marvel’ (he’s also done some equally fabulous work in Hindi cinema such as ‘Rang De Basanti, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ and ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’). Did people come to her when they couldn’t afford Arjun? “Oh there’s no competition between him and me: he is an ace. He’s always been the greatest help to me, and insisted I get into styling instead of fighting the offers that came my way,” she says. Working with stars is not easy, she says, recalling arguments she’s had with some major stars over how they wanted to be presented. “But you have to treat it like any other job. You have to realise that at the end of the day, you have to leave it outside and come home,” she opines. “Vidya Balan was probably the easiest to work with. She was so self-assured, she totally trusted me. I also enjoy working with Yash Raj Films, Aditya Chopra treats a costume stylist like a proper technician. On the other hand, I refused ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ because they said they had no budgets for costumes.”
Bhasin has director Vijay Maurya’s ‘Sabun’ coming which stars Jackie Shroff and Neena Gupta. But her focus right now is bringing Akirahin back to life, she says. “I was locked down in Goa during the pandemic and kept drawing my bugs. My friends insisted I bring back my jewellery line. A friend from Seattle put in some money, sent me a bag full of opals,” she adds. Daughters Tahura and Zohra are assisting, with setting up the ecommerce and designing the logo, even as they continue with college. “I’m just determined to be better at business this time,” Bhasin smiles. “I would love everyone to own at least one piece of Akirahin, so we have kept our prices ranging from Rs 3000 to Rs 70,000. I make my jewellery with positive energy and it gives people love and happiness.”
Namrata Zakaria is a seasoned writer and editor, and a chronicler of social and cultural trends. Her first book, on late fashion designer Wendell Rodricks’ Moda Goa museum, is due to be published shortly. Zakaria is especially known for her insider’s take on fashion, luxury and social entrepreneurship in India. Her writing is appreciated for shaping opinions, busting myths, making reputations and sometimes breaking the odd career. Zakaria is also involved in putting together philanthropic efforts in the field of economic and environmental sustainability.
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