I saw Once Upon A Time In Mumbai Dobaara (OUATIMD) over the weekend, and I wasn’t impressed by the movie, and definitely not by the fashion. Sonakshi Sinha’s costumes, designed / styled by Manish Malhotra were a complete let-down. Here’s why:
Sonakshi was not wearing the right fits
Sonakshi Sinha’s wardrobe disaster in Once Upon a Time in Mumbai Dobaara is primarily because of the ill-fitting outfits that she’s wearing. Yes, she’s a plus-sized actor, but that doesn’t excuse the tailoring. The knee-length kurtas were too tight for her– unsightly bulge jutted out at the sleeves and the back.
Sonakshi’s outfits were wrong for her body type
The camera adds 10 pounds and the silver screen another 10, I’d say. While the costume design team had to stick to the styles and trends of the era, Sonakshi looked bloated and way too plump next to the fit Akshay Kumar and skinny Imran Khan. Tweaking the outfits to better suit her body shape would have helped. Like the kurtas could be a bit looser on the chest and hips, and the necklines should have been higher.
The era was all wrong
Contrast dupattas are a fairly recent phenomenon, so Sonakshi shouldn’t have been wearing them in the movie. They weren’t around in the 1970s and 80s. I remember my mom and aunts wearing dupattas that were the same colour as their kurta and salwar. And the little prints on her kurtas can be found in any bazaar, department store or ethnic brand store in India today!
The costumes didn’t match the character
Sonakshi plays a naive aspiring actor from small-town Kashmir, and a girl with such a background would NOT be wearing such low necklies or plunging backs. And the dupatta would actually cover up her chest, not play peek a boo.
Sonakshi’s makeup could be so much better
Blush, eye shadow, liner and lipstick, all put together in a single look made me feel the makeup artist could have done a far better job. Sonakshi looked lovely in the scenes in which there was no hint of lipstick or rouge. And oh, the silver nail polish. Really?
Is the off-screen Sonakshi more fashionable?
BTW, Sonakshi looked lovely in some of the events promoting the film, much more real and relaxed, and carrying similar looks but looking much more fashionable and comfortable. The fits seemed right this time. What say?
A word on Akshay Kumar’s costumes
Akshay Kumar looked pretty much the gangster comfortable in his own skin. While I thought Akshay’s acting was over-the-top, his look was very well styled by Kunal Rawal.
Kunal dressed Akshay Kumar in solid and striped shirts in colours like like deep wine, burgundy, and steel grey teamed with muted jackets in greys, navy and black. Unmissable accessories defined the man and his persona– a mix of classy (Cartier watch), trendy (over-sized dark sunglasses) and wanting to show who’s boss (shiny and pointy shoes). Slick and stylish!
BTW, another great piece of movie styling by Kunal Rawal is Aisha (click here to read about the Aisha costumes).
What did you think of the costumes in Once Upon A Time in Mumbai Dobara?