Designs on films

LIFE HAS been a full circle for Manish Malhotra - prêt wear, trousseau, designer jewellery and costume designing. He has even styled a restaurant, and now the fashion guru is geared up to host the Manish Malhotra Show on haute couture. But that's not all. After 14 years, over 500 films, including international flicks such as Meera Nair's Vanity Fair, and innumerable awards later, he is now set to do his own thing. "I am directing a musical with lots of dance sequences. It's a multi-starrer," he says about his untitled film that is scheduled to hit the silver screen in December.
As the recipient of the first Filmfare Award for best costume for the flick, Manish Malhotra re-wrote the ensemble script for silver screen. He did away with white shoes, multi-coloured shirts and the rest of the jazz that ruled the screens in 1980s and 90s, only to present his hero in a new cool dude avatar. Today the youth can emulate their icons with much ease, a SRK in Main Hoon Na or Saif Ali Khan from Hum Tum. If he was elementary in toning down the flamboyance for the leading man, he walked that thin line between sensuality and art for the heroines. His much talked about makeover for Karisma Kapoor in Raja Hindustani, chiffon magic for Madhuri Dixit in Dil to Pagal Hai and the current wardrobe for Rani Mukherjee in Hum Tum, again, all have found takers beyond the reel world.
"Masses always copied the filmy look. Now I have classes looking at movies as a barometer for clothes," he explains. "I make clothes according to the character.
How does he go about it? "I make clothes according to the character. In Yuva, the middle class small town youth couldn't wear designer clothes as we had for K3G," he explains.
Off screen, Manish is equally sought after for his to-die-for structured silhouettes. Some of his clients include Preity Zinta, Kareena Kapoor, Rani Mukherjee, Sharon Stone, Van Damme and Michael Jackson. His much talked about international line Pickadeep embroidered jeans collection was modelled by none other than supermodel model Naomi Campbell. "I think Indian fashion industry is in progression. Indian culture and heritage are hot internationally. Ganesha is a rage in fashion circles all over the world," he says.
As for his new prêt line for men, Maya, that he unveiled recently, "the collection is inspired by Hawaiian prints and holiday motifs. Leather jackets can be hot. So here are dressy jackets in cotton, and shirts. I have used turquoise, shells and corals for ornamentation. The shirts are structured while the pants in linen and cotton feature drawstrings - its basically fun clothing. Its high time men began dressing in funky turquoise and pink," he says.