Uncovering Mangal Pandey 
By IndiaFM News Bureau, August 11, 2005 - 00:54 IST
“To marry historical accuracy with artistic creativity while designing costumes for a historical is very tricky. A great amount of dedicated and honest effort has gone into trying to be a true to director Ketan Mehta's vision and to the spirit of the 1850's. This cumulative effort has resulted in the creation of the realistically stunning costumes of The Rising” - Lovleen Bains
Sleaze flicks, NRI romances, arty-farty films, these roll out of Bollywood's dream factory every Friday. But a monster movie of this measure happens far and few. In an exclusive, IndiaFM has got you the look designer of Mangal Pandey, Lovleen Bains. Pair up and you'll know that neither does the grand-giant look of a film come that easy nor does the blood, sweat and tears to create it…
A Kaleidoscopic Khazana
Conceptualising, designing, researching and creating costumes for “The Rising” was an extremely challenging experience as it involved an array of period costumes ranging from modest villager dhotis to multi-hued dancing girl ensemble. A Parsi merchant's attire to the rich brocades of historical characters like Tatya Tope & Rani Laxmi Bai. Add the famous red-lated uniforms of the British Raj along with its civilian pomp and grandeur.
Keep it real!
This was the calling mantra while designing the look for the film. We followed the brief of 'Hold a mirror to the 1850's'. But it comes easier said than done. Here's what went into bringing Mangal Pandey to life…
Mangal Pandey's look in the film
Fabric had to be especially manufactured and dyed in order to make the thousand uniforms of the East India Company. The Army Museum in London was used to source the uniforms worn by the officers of the East India Company in India in the 1850's A few bullet - ridden uniforms of the period are carefully preserved these complete with embroidered epaulettes, embossed buttons. It doesn't end there; the emblem of the Bengal Native Infantry was re-embossed on the buttons and belts of the sepoys and officers! Talk of perfection!
The Sepoy Look
Mangal Pandey the rebel, strides across the film dressed in a dhoti, red coat and Army Boats. Mangal Pandey belonged to the 34th Bengal Native Infantry and so his uniform sports the blue facing of a sepoy of that regiment.
The Civilian look
His everyday costume consists of cotton dhotis and angarkhas in a colour palette of cream and beige with an occasional deeper of hue, in the festival scene, he wears a turban.
Rang-birangi poshak
Our rich and varied heritage of fabrics, weaves, dyes, embroidery, jewelery and accessory making has been used as the sourcing point in the designing of the costumes. Natural fabrics like Malmals cottons silks and wool have been used to re - create the texture of the period. Care has been taken to remain as close as possible to the softness of vegetable dyed colors in use at that time.
Zari-zevar
The Jewelery worn by the sati bride (Amisha Patel) is modeled on gold jewelery worn at that time in Bengal. But it had to the re-designed to make it much lighter and more delicate in style to suit the petite actress. Where the Indian jewelery is more opulent, the jewelery worn by the British is subtle and muted, yet both are equally beautiful and delicately crafted.
Pair ka pehnava
The Variety of footwear worn at the time has also been reproduced for the different characters from simple leather chappals and jutis, dazzling majories worn by the courtesans and noble man the silk shoes of the English ladies, to the tough leather boots worn by the sepoys and officers of the east India company Army, the queens army and the Afghan rebels almost everything was custom made by experienced shoe - makers.
Firangi Fashion
The variety of European costumes have been highlighted in the Masked Fancy Dress Ball in the film, where Queen Elizabeth I is seen jostling with Napoleon and Josephine, a simple sack cloth clad monk, a shepherdess and fairy, among others. The crinolines, rear pads and corsets of the period were stoically sported by the English actresses, in the scorching heat of India.
Finally, there is more to Mangal than his mouche!!
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