Weddings make for great viewing. And, after the success of Band Baaja Bride, launched last February, NDTVGood Times has roped in one of the industry’s heavyweights, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, to see it through the second season. Hosted by anchor Ambika Anand and model Bharat Arora, the show has 13 shortlisted brides undergoing a complete makeover by the Bengali designer. We spoke to Mukherjee, who opened up on fashion and its possibilities on TV:
As real as it gets
Weddings play a significant role in Mukherjee’s career as a designer, and he admits that the show will introduce him to a different clientele. “Sometimes, we designers tend to get spoiled as we have a very highhanded attitude towards the customer. But when you are designing for real people, it’s the product that matters to them. I wanted to have a reality check at some point in my career,” confides the 37-year-old designer, who is understandably elated over the show that is halfway in the making.
Most recently in the news for impressing talk show host Oprah Winfrey during her India visit, Mukherjee shares,“The girls with the most interesting stories have been selected. For instance, there is one girl who can’t afford her own wedding.” The show sees the designer traversing both metros and towns like Kashipur and Varanasi. “I found the purpose of meeting these girls, getting to know their families and the ambience they live in and creating something that will comply with their demands, quite exciting,” says Mukherjee.
Benaras select
Though the designer doesn’t want to sound biased, he confesses that his first episode in Benaras was the most memorable one. “We sourced a lot of woven saris from Benaras, cut them and made them into a beautiful Benarasi lehenga for the bride.” The whole experience has opened his eyes, when it comes to designing for non-celebrities. “You can’t take them (the brides) for granted as they have a mind of their own. Also, the common woman is far more confident, but she trusts you entirely. These are not people who wear clothes for a living,” he says.
Why tradition rocks
Kown for his experiments with bridal wear (recall his bohemian bride last year), the designer believes that the traditional bride makes the biggest impact. “There is nothing better than red and gold on the big day,” Mukherjee points out, adding that this time he is adding an organic touch to the bridal look.
“The colour palette will be mostly in earthy colours like beige, organic red, with organic textiles sourced from all over India,”confirms the designer.
Band Baaja Bride airs every Friday at 9.30 pm on NDTV Good Times.