Soon after Marvel Studios released the first trailer for Chloé Zhao’s Eternals, fans in India couldn’t help but cheer for what seemed like a dance sequence right out of Bollywood. Participants were seen shaking a leg in Indian attires as the soon-to-be-seen in Big Sick, actor Kumail Nanjiani took the stage. Reports say, he plays a Bollywood actor in the film that boasts an ensemble cast that includes the likes of Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden and Kit Harrington. However, much to the South Asian diaspora’s excitement — there’s more to that scene than meets the eye as the man behind those glitzy kurtas and lehengas is Saran Kohli, a designer of Indian origin.
Marvel matters
The British designer is the creative force behind the desi attires for what he calls an “epic scene” from the upcoming Marvel film. Talking about the enormity of the task, the London-born designer and stylist, says,“I was proud to put our culture and design aesthetics on the global map, considering the sheer size of Marvel’s universal audience.” He further shares that that at the onset he was competely taken by surprise because all he knew was that it was a call for costumes for a film being shot in London.
He adds, “I have done costume design for films before. But when they mentioned the meeting to be at a well-known British studio, it felt like a big budget production. Before the meeting was set, a non-disclosure agreement was signed. That’s when I realised that this is going to be much more than what I had thought and imagine my surprise when the head of the costume department told me that this will be for the next installments of the Marvel phase. I was on cloud nine,” says the menswear exponent whom you might recollect seeing at a dance sequence from a well-known Levis commercial.
“I had come prepared for the meeting with samples and created a few quick sketches. After my proposal they felt confident and proceeded to commission me to design 52 dancer’s costumes for the sequence,” says Saran adding that the superhero universe always had a special place in his heart. He confesses that he loves the costumes of Iron Man, Black Panther and Spider-Man. However, he mentions that Iron Man aka Tony Stark’s costume is his favourite.
Part of the process
Saran tells us, the Academy Award-winning director left no stones unturned in making the South Asian experience authentic. “The film’s costume department had already done their elaborate homework. However, to keep it authentic, they got me onboard. Chloé wanted the characters to stay true to their identity. The search for the perfect costumes was a part in that process,” says the designer who has dressed the likes of cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and singer Jay Sean. That apart, he is also one of the prominent advocates of raising awareness about vitiligo — a cause close to him and in South Asian circles in Britain and beyond.
A memorable experience
For Saran, Eternals was an opportunity to represent the ethnicity of the characters. He did that with the choice of colours, cuts and fabrics. He also worked closely with choreographer Nileeka Bose who was appointed for the scene which seems to feature an elaborate dance. After an initial test, the team went deeper by studying what prints would stand out on camera and developed many of it in several colours before zeroing in on the final one. They drew sketches and mood-boards for a wide selection of kurtas with technical guests to aid movement and different cuts of lehengas and drapes in tandem with the choreography team.
Apart from being commissioned to design costumes for 52 dancers, he also assisted the Marvel Costume Department on umail Nanjiani’s costume (in the picture). He mentions that it was an enjoyable process given the amount of research the team had done on Indian heritage designs. Talking about his time with the Silicon Valley star on the sets, he says, “I got the opportunity to work with Kumail and be on set with such a humble and funny actor who made me and everyone around him quite comfortable. In fact, his pride to be able to represent South Asian community on such a mainstream platform was quite evident.”