Poornamrita Singh, one of Bollywood’s leading costume designers shares what it’s like to make clothes that define characters. Blessy Mathew Prasad finds out
It’s an obvious assumption that what you wear says a lot about you - whether you’re one to follow norms or break the rules. When it comes to films, however, the importance of costumes is paramount. Picture Alia Bhatt from Dear Zindagi dressed in shirts and formal skirts or Priyanka Chopra from Dil Dhadakne Do dressed in plain T-shirts and jeans. Weird much? For any character to be revealed in its entirety and for the audience to understand the tone and mood of the film, it’s the costumes that speak volumes - about the era, the character’s economic standing, their personality, the current mood or even the weather conditions of the location. Costume designing is a challenging art and Poornamrita Singh, one of Bollywood’s leading costume designers has been relishing her journey so far.
Although she majored in English Literature in college, and had never taken up any professional course in fashion designing, Poornamrita had always been interested in styling. Her first break in the world of fashion was the cover shoot with Kangana Ranaut for Hi! Blitz Magazine in the year 2010. Soon she worked as an assistant costume designer for Bollywood films like Zoya Akhtar’s Dil Dhadakne Do and Reema Kagti’s Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd. She has also assisted in designing for Hollywood films like Ang Lee’s Life Of Pi, Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited, Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Migration.
When asked how different it is to design for films as compared to designing for individuals, she says, “Designing for people has more to do with the occasion, their personal choices, body type, and their likes and dislikes. Movies, on the other hand, are character-driven. You need to think of a character as a real-life person, and understand his/her psyche.” For instance, in the film Baar Baar Dekho, there are different time zones and Poornmrita had to keep history in mind when choosing the colour palette, fabrics, and other aspects. “They say that fashion comes around. So my sartorial inspiration for this film ranged backwards — from the 60s to the 40s and back to the Edwardian era. I used 3D techniques on neoprene, mixed leather with other fabrics, and so on,” she says. It’s been twelve years since she entered the film world. And Poornamrita hopes to continue telling stories through her costumes.
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