She’s a housewife and loving mom, far removed from the world of films and stardom. So when 32-year-old Poornima Ramasamy won the 60th National Award for the Best costume design for Paradesi, she was more surprised than anyone. For this was the first time she was dabbling in designing costumes for a feature film and that too under the insistence of Bala, who is her family friend.
Speaking to CE, Poornima recalls, “Malar, Bala’s wife, is a good friend of mine. I used to design saris and blouses for my friends after marriage. I was settled in Erode for two years, where I honed my skills of designing handwoven saris and later when I moved back to Chennai, I would supply my designs to our family store Naidu Hall. But all this was just on a small scale till Malar told me about Paradesi. Bala knew about my work and insisted I could carry it off, since he needed someone with a deep knowledge of natural fabrics and textiles.”
Though marriage and household largely kept her away from her family’s garment business, destiny seems to have had other things in mind. Her late grandfather, MG Naidu, the founder of the famous Chennai’s landmark garment house, Naidu Hall, would have been a proud man today to see Poornima bring glory to the family name. Little would he have imagined that the years young Poornima spent looking into the production and design of various segments of garments in their store, would one day lead her to a national honour.
So what was the challenge in designing costumes for Paradesi? Poornima says, “We had to be true to the era and the economic situation of the characters and lend a realistic touch. Bala had a clarity of vision and I had to merely follow it. We researched into the period in history. The garments had to be non-stitched, with ragged edges, for which costumer Selvam had to work extra hard. No machines were used. The colours had to convey poverty and so there was no coordination between the clothes actors wore and we used mostly earth tones. We had to source a lot of handwoven saris from second hand shops since new ones are very expensive. Some new clothes and blankets had to be bought, which I would keep on the road and let lorries drive over to give the instantly dirty and worn look needed for the film! We would also stone the clothes to make them look used.”
Being a young mother, Poornima insisted that she be home after 2 pm everyday and Bala complied. During shoots, she would visit the unit for around three days in the beginning. The efficiency of Bala’s production unit helped her greatly in managing home and work. And if things heat up with a new career, after this award, it may well be that Poornima Ramasamy will be doing more of such a balancing act in future as well!