We were expecting to hear some hard-to-crack statements and hi-fi remarks from the person on the other side of the line. For, she is emerging as the busiest costume designer in Malayalam film industry. Instead, she was all giggling and sticking to one-liners.
Well, it was all because her friends were standing around pulling her legs, she told us later. When we caught up again with young and cute Sameera Saneesh, the prodding was not needed.
She is just 27 and has already designed costumes for almost all the big names in the industry, including the two Big Ms. The list of releases would speak volumes for her talent- ‘Daddy Cool’, ‘Agathan’, ‘Katha Thudarunnu’, ‘In Ghost House Inn’, ‘Pranchiyettan & the Saint’, ‘Best Actor’, ‘Malarvadi Arts Club’, ‘Arjunan Sakshi’, ‘Payyans’, ‘Salt n Pepper’ and ‘Chappa Kurishu’.
“I go for simple designs, but ensure that they get a good screen presence,” Sameera puts across her style mantra as simple as possible.
It was her penchant for drawing and fabric painting that saw her join the NIFT and even while studying she used to do part-time fashion designing. One of her teachers used to do ads and working with him eventually saw her entering the ad industry first. That was five years back.
She started off with the ads of Soundarya Silks and then that of a builder. What gave her fame was the ad of Seemas, which was shot in Mysore Palace with five models. And, as they say, there was no looking back.
She has already designed costumes for television commercials of brands such as Kalyan Silks (Prithviraj), Dhatri (Kavya Madhavan, Nithya Menon, Samyukta Varma), Bhima (Richa Panai), Nirapara (one featuring Kavya Madhavan will be out soon), VKC (an upcoming one with Kavya), to name a few. “Actually, I don’t remember all,” she says on an apologetic note.
Her debut on the big screen was with the film ‘The White Elephant’, directed by ad film-maker Aijaz Khan, shot entirely in Kerala and which was selected for the Indian Panorama section at the Goa International Film Festival 2009.
The big break happened with Aashiq Abu’s debut film ‘Daddy Cool’, with Mammootty in the lead. “I was very comfortable with ads, there was little tension and the work would be over very fast. So, I was not very excited about doing films. You need to devote more time and have to deal with many characters. But Aashiq was very particular that I should do the costumes for his film. I was extremely tensed. However, the entire crew was more like a family and I was given enough freedom to experiment with colours,” she says.
The cool costumes and the splash of colours went down well with the audience and she got noticed.
Aashiq, naturally, turned to Sameera when he made ‘Salt N Pepper’, now running to packed houses. “I stuck to natural colours, but had to give a fresh look to the actors, especially Shwetha Menon.”
Sameera prefers to use pastel shades. “Except in ‘Best Actor’, I haven’t used screaming colours.” And she is very proud about the costume she designed for the saint in ‘Pranchiyettan...’. ‘‘St Francis of Assisi had to come alive on screen and Ranjith Sir was particular that the costumes had to give that feel..,.” she says.
‘Daddy Cool’ is special for her. “That was my first commercial venture and you can’t imagine how tensed I was! I was told that it was not easy to work with Mammootty. But it was absolutely smooth working with him and having worked with him in ‘Best Actor’ and ‘Pranchiyettan’, I find him one of the most comfortable stars to work with,” Sameera says. “In the case of Mammookka and Lal sir, I give the patterns and they have their own people who get them stitched,” she adds.
According to Sameera, among the young actors, Jayasurya likes to experiment with the latest trends and Prithviraj (for whom she designed costumes for Kalyan Silks and ‘Arjunan Sakshi’) makes little fuss about the designs. She is excited about having designed costumes for Mohanlal, Jayaprada and others in Blessy’s new film ‘Pranayam’. She would also be designing costumes for actor-director Lal’s ‘Cobra’, Ranjith’s ‘Indian Rupee’ and Sibi Malayil’s new work.
“There is no success mantra, it is just that whatever work is assigned to me, I finish it on time to the best of my ability.” And she cherishes one moment. “The dubbing of ‘Katha Thudarunnu’ was going on and I was in the dubbing studio. Mamta Mohandas excitedly came and hugged me and said - ‘All costumes are so good’. I was absolutely thrilled.”
When it comes to personal preferences, black is her all-time favourite colour. And she is more than comfortable wearing kurtis and chudi bottom, almost everyday.
Sameera, who stays with her husband Saneesh, a telecom engineer, in Kochi, nurtures a dream. “I would love to work with Gautham Menon one day... The costumes used in his films are so beautiful, which means he gives much importance to that...”
She wishes to open a boutique of her own. But, for that she will have to take a break from films, which does not seem likely in the near future!