EXCLUSIVE: Eka Lakhani on being invited to join The Academy: "A HUGE honour…learned about it when Guneet Monga messaged 'Welcome to the Academy'!"; credits Mani Ratnam for her cinema journey: "He is my film school and also my costume design school"
Last week, it came to light that The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had invited 529 film industry personalities from around the world to join its membership in 2026. One of them is eminent costume designer Eka Lakhani. She was among the few Indians to receive this prestigious invite, along with acclaimed filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj, veteran editors A Sreekar Prasad and Deepa Bhatia and others. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, Eka Lakhani spoke about this honour and a lot more.
How does it feel to get this prestigious recognition? And what was your first reaction when you learned about the honour?
I feel really honoured and excited. I had just woken up and I had received Guneet Monga’s message. She said, ‘Welcome to the Academy. I am so happy and proud of you’! I didn’t understand what that meant, as I had not received any email from the Academy. So, I had to Google to find out what she meant. That’s when I read the article, stating that I was invited. It still took me some time to decipher what it all meant. However, I realized it was a great honour to have such an opportunity.
How did your parents and filmmaker-husband Ravi Bhagchandka react to this honour?
Ravi was the first one I spoke to. I woke him up and told him about the message that I had received from Guneet. I asked him to help me understand what the Academy invite meant. Since I didn’t receive the e-mail at that point, I didn’t exactly know what it meant or what my role would be.
Meanwhile, my parents are super-thrilled and excited. And also, one of the first few people I spoke to was Karan Johar and Mani Ratnam sir. It was great to receive support from people whom you have worked so closely.
Indian cinema, costume and Oscars go back a long way. The late Bhanu Athaiya was the first Indian to receive the Oscar. After this honour, are you aiming to win an Oscar trophy as well?
(Laughs) I don’t know. We all look up to Bhanu Athaiya. She’s someone whose journey I have admired a lot. Early in my career, I had Mani sir speak fondly about her journey. I was always intrigued by her way of working, her methods for costume designing and her understanding of art, cinema and costume. So, I have always looked up to her and admired her journey. Of course, it was 4 decades ago that she won the Oscar for Gandhi (1982). It can’t be my aim to do what she has done as she has left a legacy. Nevertheless, it’s really a proud moment that my name is taken in the same breath as her.
You mentioned Mani Ratnam and you began your career with him. Tell us about your bond with him.
My film school has been Mani sir. I studied fashion and I thought I would be a fashion designer. But circumstances that led me to (become a stylist). I wanted to work with Sabyasachi, who was doing Mani sir’s film at that time – Raavan (2010). That’s how I came on board for that film. And that’s how my association with Mani sir started. Whatever I know about films is through him. My costume design school was also with him because until then, I knew everything about fashion design. I knew nothing about costume design, how character-building works, how continuity works, how colours impact in cinema etc. You can’t learn these things in a textbook. You learn it on the set when you see a director react in a certain way to a DOP about how colours are working or how emotions are being portrayed through costumes. All of this was something that I learned from Mani sir. I was very lucky that from Raavan onwards, I have been his costume designer. It’s been more than 15 years of working and learning with him. So, it matters a lot what he feels about this achievement.
An interesting project for you must have been Ok Jaanu (2017) since you had also worked in the original film, Ok Kanmani (2015), which was directed by Mani Ratnam…
(Smiles) Yes, indeed, it was a fun experience because I had done the original. So, I knew the script, the character arcs, the scenes and the nuances. I probably knew a lot more before starting work on Ok Jaanu. If Tara (Shraddha Kapoor’s character in Ok Jaanu) wore a costume in scene 1, I knew where that costume would travel and until which scene. I was already aware of the backdrop where they’d be shooting the film and what colours would work for the characters. Whatever I couldn’t do in Ok Kanmani, I got a second chance to do in Ok Jaanu!
Also Read: Vishal Bhardwaj, Eka Lakhani among Indian film professionals invited to join Oscars Academy in 2026
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