CC2C stylist talks about designing the look of the actors

Do you plan to work on other Indian films? Definitely! It’s the start of an amazing journey. I have not committed to any other film as of yet, Read More">however I have discussed various other projects and am taking a well-deserved holiday before starting another project. CC2C was a tremendous way to start in the movieRead More

Do you plan to work on other Indian films?
Definitely! It's the start of an amazing journey. I have not committed to any other film as of yet, however I have discussed various other projects and am taking a well-deserved holiday before starting another project. CC2C was a tremendous way to start in the movie industry.

Who are your favourite style icons and which designers do you favour?
My taste is very eclectic. In the Indian fashion scene, I love what Sabyasachi Mukherjee does -- eclectic, elegant and focused. Internationally I love John Galliano for his amazing vision, pure elegant style and his dramatic approach to design. Fashion and style is all about the attention to detail and I loved the style of the 50's a lot. Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren, Audrey Hepburn and Brigitte Bardot were all beautiful, stylish and iconic stars of the Fifties, who are still inspirational.

How differently did you have to think about styling songs? The songs had to look very lush and so we went all out. I worked along with the choreographer, Pony Verma, and we coordinated the costumes with the picturisation. Although CC2C is not the typical Bollywood song-n-dance movie, we still had lavish costume changes, Read More">setsRead More

How differently did you have to think about styling songs?
The songs had to look very lush and so we went all out. I worked along with the choreographer, Pony Verma, and we coordinated the costumes with the picturisation. Although CC2C is not the typical Bollywood song-n-dance movie, we still had lavish costume changes, sets and the extravaganza one expects. It was quite challenging to adapt armours and long regal robes to the beat of Bollywood. We even had to think about action sequences in the songs as we had wire-work type stunts.

This is your first Bollywood film - what challenges did you face?
The language, weather, expanse of this movie, numerous technical challenges for the stunts for which the costumes were required to be functional and yet look beautiful. They had to endure the wear-and-tear of the many amazing stunts in the film. We had to make Akshay and Deepika look effortless whilst they are doing all the action.

What tricks did you use while designing costumes to ensure they were flexible enough for action sequences?
Well, there was no specific trick but to just discuss with the stunt director. He knows what is required and at what point and was very helpful in discussing his needs in order to make the stunts look amazing. We ensured that a lot of the fabrics were durable. For example we have a whole scene that we shot over seven days in the rain. The clothes had to survive and still look good, so we used fabrics and waterproofed them just enough to look wet, yet get soaked slowly.

What references did you use for styling Deepika and Akshay? We looked at a lot of references of Old Delhi and of Chandni Chowk. I researched what colours people wear, how they wear their clothes, how they accessorise, how they layer etc. For the China parts, Read More">we did the same. The direction and creative teamRead More

What references did you use for styling Deepika and Akshay?
We looked at a lot of references of Old Delhi and of Chandni Chowk. I researched what colours people wear, how they wear their clothes, how they accessorise, how they layer etc. For the China parts, we did the same. The direction and creative team had done an extensive recce of locations and places in China and Delhi. For the characters played by Deepika - Sakhi and Meow Meow -- we wanted both to look stunning in their own way. One is girly, colourful, loves bling and wears skirts while the other is dark, sultry, yet sexy and sinister. Both are very chic and sophisticated.

Have you stuck to a particular colour palette or fabrics?
We have used very specific colours for each character. Also the visual difference of the first half in Delhi compared to the China parts is very calculated. Delhi is muted, yet rich in colour with everything having a very old, dusted, tonal and aged feel. We have used a lot of checked fabrics for Sidhu (Kumar) while Dada (Mithun Chakraborty) is in his muted army colours. In contrast Sakhi is in pinks and purples and Meow is dark and somber - almost always. All the fabrics were authentic too -- lots of linens, silks, brocades and leather.

How important was it to combine hair and make up with costume, especially for the China leg?
It was very important to give the film a total look. Every detail was taken care of from the hair to the costumes and accessories. We wanted to make a film with real costumes and not just clothes. China was quite a challenge as it was on a grand scale. For the title song we used the same costumiers as the Curse of the Golden Flower. These were amazing craftsmen who have been doing this for a long time. They were precise and the quality of the manufacture was outstanding.

As the box office, producers and stars of Chandni Chowk To China gear up for its Indian release this Friday, the film will also be a showcase for the latest entrant into the world of Bollywood styling – Jaimal Odedra. Jaimal was raised in England, educated at London’s prestigious Royal College of Art, Read More">and hasRead More

As the box office, producers and stars of Chandni Chowk To China gear up for its Indian release this Friday, the film will also be a showcase for the latest entrant into the world of Bollywood styling - Jaimal Odedra. Jaimal was raised in England, educated at London's prestigious Royal College of Art, and has worked with such design houses as Calvin Klein, Givenchy, Donna Karan and Ralph Lauren.

Chandni Chowk To China is New York based Jaimal's debut feature film and one he found hard to resist when friends Rohan Sippy and Nikhil Advani approached him. He immediately took on the challenging task of costuming not only the lead actors Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone, but also the supporting cast and hundreds of extras - creating a style statement that traveled from Chandni Chowk to, obviously, China.

Here's an interview with designer Jaimal who is now bitten by the Bollywood bug.

What brief were you given for styling the film?
I had an initial brainstorming session with director Nikhil Advani and then, after I read the full script, I started with sketches and visual image references for all the characters. Nikhil's brief was to design and develop a very stylised, recognisable look for each of the film characters. Each character is like a superhero or comic book caricature. Our process was to first create a visual storyboard for each of the principle roles with photo references, colours, styling etc. Finally, after further discussions with Nikhil, we sat with each actor and discussed the costumes, colours and fabrics of each outfit. Then the entire costume line-up was sketched up scene by scene.

Who all did you style and how many costumes did you produce?
I styled the entire movie. I conceptualised the look of each character from the hair, make-up, to all the costumes and accessories. I worked with various hair and make-up people to do all the look tests initially, and to produce the concepts I had visualized. Only after this did we settle on the team which included Mallika Bhatt, the make-up artist who did Deepika's make-up. For the costumes we did both - design costumes and source them.