KOCHI:vShe has worked on just about every celebrity, creating fresh, glowing women on screen and magazine covers. But Renju Renjimar doesn’t believe in making her clients look beautiful, she wants them ‘to feel’ beautiful. Multimillion weddings, spectacular stage shows, A-list stars - the makeup artist seems to have an uncanny ability to create looks and trends that simply take your breath away. “I have never undergone any professional training but I was obsessed with makeup as long as I can remember. Though I don’t hold any certificate, now I have around 5,000 students across Kerala. I consider makeup an art and it was in my blood,” she says.
Coming from the LGBT community, reaching the top slot was not a cakewalk for her. “There were moments I broke down on film sets. But I stood strong and braved all the hatred. If some random light-boy smirks at me now, I will definitely give him a piece of my mind. But mostly I try to reason with people. There are some extremely talented people among our community, but they are denied a platform to prove their skill,” she says.
Renju is a trendsetter when it comes to bridal makeup and she has girls flying in from Delhi and Kolkata for trials. “My signature is my mixing style, from foundation to lipstick I go for a clever blend of tones,” she says. Be it hair or contouring, the wedding look she created for Ravi Pillai’s daughter Arati was later copied by a volley of others. “After that wedding I could find nearly two dozen Arati clones on social networking sites,” she laughs. Next to makeup it’s ornaments that define a bride’s look, she says. “The wrong choice of ornaments can be a real spoiler at weddings, so I always carry a classy collection with me. In a recent celebrity wedding I asked for kundan sets instead of antique pieces. The bride looked stunning and I received a lot of compliments for the work.” Renju says, despite having a solid celebrity clientele she is affordable to all. “I was born and brought up in Kerala and I know every dad is not a millionaire. So my rates are not monstrous, and I am always willing to work on a reasonable budget.”
Beautiful rapport with celebs
Renju agrees she is on the speed-dial of many celebrities, but she adds her relationship with them is not purely professional. “Mamta brings me bundles of makeup articles from the US. Priyamani, Remya Nambeesan, Lakshmi Menon and Bhavana enjoy my presence, they feel at home with me around. Rimi Tomy is like family and it was Muktha who introduced me to Tamil industry. I share a beautiful rapport with with them all,” she says. Recently, she had to transform Shweta Menon, one of her favourite clients, into a man for a cover shoot. “It was something I had never done and I was a bundle of nerves. But the work came out really well that even Sabaina, Shweta’s daughter, couldn’t recognise her.” At the same time she doesn’t believe in extreme makeovers either. “While giving a star like Prayaga Martin a Bollywood makeover, I make sure to retain her identity. There is no point in creating someone else out of a familiar face.”
The big dream
While she is the go-to artist for all the stars down South, Renju’s biggest dream is to work for Deepika Padukone. “You will find a touch of Deepika in some of my celebrity works, I am totally smitten by her. Then I would love to work for Nayanthara, she is every makeup artist’s dream. It’s the kind of face that will show 100 percent results.” Does that mean she is already heading to Bollywood? “I don’t plan anything in my life. After my class 10 exam I went to work at a brickyard. From there I have reached celebrity makeup suites, so I am more than happy to go by the flow,” she says.