New Delhi

‘Creativity is inborn, can’t be taught’

Fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee.

Leading fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee talks to Madhur Tankha about his latest fall winter collection, his student days at NIFT and how designing dresses for films helps him balance his ego.

Fashion guru Sabyasachi Mukherjee gives equal time and dedication to fashion shows and big Bollywood banners in which his job is to make actors look appropriate for their reel characters and believes that fashion and films are diametrically opposite and carving out garments for actors challenges the designer in him.

Taking time out from his fashion show at “Carma” in the Capital this past week, he says designing dresses for films helps him balance his ego and allows him to work with the entire team. “Luckily the actors I have worked with have given me ample space to decide which dress will be suitable to the character they are essaying on the big screen. After listening to the script and the role of its protagonists, the designer has to use his acumen skills and gumption. I design clothes to make my character look believable, they shouldn’t look glamorous but appropriate. Only non-actors are obsessed with their clothes.”

Sabyasachi says he hasn’t seen Madhur Bhandarkar’s latest film “Fashion” but what he has learnt is that the filmmaker had not put the spot light on designers but on models sashaying down the ramp. “It should have been named ‘Glamour’ as it had focussed so much on models. Fashion is basically all about what designers think and do.”

Coming to his latest fall winter collection, he says he has come up with a lot of zardozi, minakari and pharsi gara. “There is some embroidery work that I have borrowed from Uzbek culture. This type of embroidery germinated in my mind when I was doing my dissertation in Central Asian textile from the National Institute of Fashion Technology in 1999. A lot of weave from Banaras in 500 count khadi and lots of vegetable dye prints have also been used.”

He studied at Calico Museum of Textiles in Ahmedabad for his latest collection.

“I have seen a number of weaves in the country. Every year I re-invent something like tie and dye, old miniature dying affect, patan and patola that is an extinct weave in India right now and bridal-wear collection comprising camp saris, kurtas and lehengas.”

Sharing his student days at NIFT, Sabyasachi says what a budding designer needs to understand is that you simply cannot be taught creativity; it is something inborn. “A course at a fashion institute can only hone your textile sensibilities and discipline. It is important to go through formal training to make a mark in the industry.”

Shedding light on Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film “Black”, Sabyasachi says it was his first venture in Bollywood and all his hard work paid when he was honoured with the National Award in costume designing.

“A period film ‘Black” was loosely based in the 1960s. I had designed tweed jackets for Amitabh. This was unlike a Bollywood film because it hardly had any shimmer and glitter. It was too sophisticated for the average Hindi film lover. Bhansali is a perfectionist and gets so engrossed in the process of filmmaking that he is involved in every aspect of it. He gave me a lot of free hand.”

Admitting that he was a fan of Mr. Bachchan, Sabyasachi says he was trembling with trepidation before meeting the versatile actor. “Luckily all my nervousness vanished into thin air after interacting with Mr Bachchan. He told me that just as his job was to emote before the camera, my job was to create outfits. He gave me space and I selected green black and ochre coloured dresses for him. I designed oversized tweed coats and pants. There was only one red outfit worn by Rani Mukherjee but rest of the film was monochromatic.”

Aditya Chopra’s “Laaga Chunari Mein Daag” gave Sabyasachi an opportunity to design clothes for its three leading ladies. “This movie was an amalgamation of old and new. I had lot of fun in working with Jaya Bachchan, who knew the film graph and what the characters look like. I also designed clothes for Rani Mukherjee and Konkana who played siblings in the movie.”

Sabyasachi’s favourite among actors is the inimitable Aamir Khan, for whom he would one day love to design clothes. “Aamir is a committed actor and the big advantage working with him is that he is very fastidious when it comes to deciding his movie. Like him, I also do just one or two fashion shows and one film a year.”

Madhur Tankha

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu