Fresh spin on old-world romance: Manish Malhotra decodes Alia’s saree look from ‘Rocky aur Rani..’

PTI, Jul 29, 2023, 10:59 AM IST

Alia Bhatt’s chiffon sarees from ”Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani” are a nod to the romance and drama of old school cinema, says fashion designer Manish Malhotra, describing his work on the Karan Johar film as a ”roller coaster of creativity”.

Directed by Johar, ”Rocky Aur Rani…” stars Ranveer Singh and Bhatt as the titular couple from different cultural backgrounds.

The film has been generating a lot of buzz for its scale, music and stellar cast — also featuring cinema veterans Dharmendra, Jaya Bachchan and Shabana Azmi. ”Working on ‘Rocky and Rani….’ with Karan was pure fun as it always is. Karan had this idea of having Alia in sarees to portray her character of a bright Bengali journalist, and everyone knows how much I adore chiffon. ”Bringing back that old school cinema vibe into her look was the aim – the drama, the romance, all of it. With the play of colours and chiffon sarees, I wanted to showcase not just her journey but also the golden era of rom-com cinema,” Malhotra told PTI in an interview.

The 56-year-old designer said his love for chiffon is well known and the film provided him yet another chance to further explore his romance with the ”delicate yet expressive” fabric.

”When it comes to sarees, nothing beats my all-time favourite, chiffon. It’s like a canvas, so delicate yet expressive,” the designer said.

Johar, according to Malhotra, had envisioned Bhatt’s character of a Bengali journalist in beautiful sarees and the designer saw an opportunity to reinvent the ”fearless vibe” of the classic attire.

A Dharma Productions project, ”Rocky Aur Rani…” released in theatres worldwide on Friday, but Bhatt’s sarees have been generating a buzz since the release of the film’s teaser in June.

Fans were quick to recreate the colour-blocked and ombre style that Alia sports in songs ”Jhumka” or ”Tum Kya Mile”, which seems to be Johar’s hat tip to the many Yash Chopra romances, depicting the heroine in delicate chiffon sarees against snow-clad mountains and rolling green meadows. ”Colours were the soul of these sarees. We painted stories with them, mixing and matching, in colour blocking and ombres to capture the essence of Alia’s character of a Bengali journalist on screen. Seeing people recreate these sarees, posting their takes on social media is always an aftermath satisfaction of knowing your work resonates with people,” Malhotra added.

The designer, who has previously collaborated with Johar on ”Kuch Kuch Hota Hai”, ”Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham…”, ”My Name Is Khan” and ”Ae Dil Hai Mushkil”, said their latest work was a ”sweet journey” of over a year and they made sure to maintain the look during the nationwide promotions.

”Once we had the idea down and knew what worked on screen, it was just a journey of experimentation, a smooth sail, full of colour, fabric, and a whole lot of creativity,” he added.

Malhotra, who is gearing up for his feature film directorial debut with a biopic on screen icon Meena Kumari, said he is enamoured by the golden era of Hindi cinema and then there are the 90s. For him, these decades in cinema stand out for the way they experimented with colours and outfits.

”I’ve always been smitten by the ’50s and ’60s and then there was the ’90s, the days of bold colours and wild styles. I remember how we revived sarees in the ’90s & the 2000s with films like on ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ and ”Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham…” to be sensual yet so romantically timeless! ”Now with ‘Rocky and Rani’ it’s like a nod to that fearless vibe, but with a fresh spin. In a world where everything is ultra-real, I thought why not bring back some of that old-world romance,” he said.

Be it Shah Rukh Khan’s funky college heartthrob look in ”Kuch Kuch…” and Kajol’s transformation, Kareena Kapoor Khan’s ”Poo” attires from ”K3G” or the contemporary kurtas worn by Anushka Sharma and the long coats sported by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in ”Ae Dil Hai…”, Malhotra has had many standout movie fashion moments during his long collaboration with Johar.

With Bhatt’s look already emerging as a next big trend, the designer said it’s always a delight to see his work resonate with the young generation.

”Seeing my work connect with the young gen is always a treat. Now, with Alia’s look in ‘Rocky Aur Rani’, will it be big? That’s for the audience to say. But the thrill, for me, comes from bringing these designs to life on screen,” he said.

Malhotra said collaborating with Johar is always like ”jamming with an old friend”.

”We’ve been at this for years. It’s like we speak our own creative language – we just get each other. Our friendship goes way back. I love his candidness, his unique take on reality – and that’s what you see on the screen. Working together over the years, we’ve only refined this process, creating some real magic on-screen,” he said.