Alia Bhatt

In Bollywood Fashion, Celebs, Fashion, News, trends

Bollywood Fashion: When celebs turn designers

Speaking ChicFebruary 11, 2015February 11, 2015Leave a comment

WANTED: Fashion designer

Must-have qualities: Should be famous

Design experience required: Nil

Since Indian celebrities have peddled everything from cars to rice to fairness creams, it’s time for some fashion endorsements. Fashion brands (Indian and otherwise) recently began begun following the global trend of getting celebrities to design fashion clothing and accessories. Internationally, a number of celebrities have their own fashion and fragrance lines like Jennifer Lopez, Paris Hilton, Beyonce… you get the drift, but closer home, times are a-changing now.

These celebrities dress fashionably and have a great sense of style (or a great team of stylists). Here are some Bollywood celebrities who have created their own clothing lines for well-known fashion brands. Design experience: not required!

Gauri Khan for Satya Paul

The most recent entry in this field, the star wife turned fashionista turned interior designer is now trying her hand at fashion. Gauri Khan is creating her signature line of clothing and accessories for Satya Paul called “A Tropical Wonder”. Expect abstract art and digital prints on casual and occasional wear separates like sheer tunics, flowing kaftans, shift dresses and saris.

What: Saris, tunics, kaftans

Where: Available at Satya Paul stores

Alia Bhatt for Jabong.com

This young actor is barely a few movies old, but she got her own fashion line last year. Alia Bhatt for Jabong.com is affordable, fashionable and trendy though there are some outrageous pieces- like the metallic jeggings and two-coloured denim.

What: Tops, dresses and jeans for women

Where: Available at Jabong.com.

Karan Johar for Vero Moda

Being fashion designer is just one of Karan Johar’s various facets. This super-talented man turned designer for the chic high street brand Vero Moda with the Marquee Limited Edition collection. The collection had stylish dresses and separates, and I especially liked the party pieces (bought a cowl neck sequined top!). The clothes all had a rich feel and were packed in special shopping bags for that luxe touch.

What: Dresses, tops, jackets, skirts for women

Where: Available at select Vero Moda stores (may be sold out)

Deepika Padukone for Van Heusen

I always thought of Van Heusen as a men’s formal wear brand, till Deepika Padukone came along. In 2014, she designed two Limited Edition collections for the brand, comprising mostly formal and evening dresses with some smart separates.

What: Formal dresses

Where: Available at select Van Heusen stores (may be sold out)

Bipasha Basu for The Trunk Label

This online fashion accessories brand is “curated” by Bipasha Basu. With plenty of options and extremely affordable pieces, any girl would want to shop here!

What: Bags, shoes, jewellery

Where: Available at The Trunk Label

In Bollywood Fashion

Bollywood Fashion: Humpty Sharma ki Dulhania vs DDLJ

Speaking ChicAugust 15, 2014Leave a comment

Spoilt Ambala girl Kavya Pratap Singh (Alia Bhatt) is getting married soon. And she’s hell-bent on wearing a designer lehenga on her big day, a “local” lehenga just won’t do. And this determination is where the story of Humpty Sharma ki Dulhania begins.

A month in Europe or a designer lehenga?

While DDLJ’s Simran (Kajol) wanted a month of freedom and escaped to the beautiful landscapes of Europe, all Kavya wants is a designer lehenga, and escapes to Delhi. So this movie that aims to be the new generation’s Dilwala Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ), swaps a yearning for independence with a strong desire for an outfit. That’s quite a leap this generation has taken.

Kavya (the bridezilla who’s never seen the guy she’s about to marry!) is so determined to get her hands on a designer lehenga, that she sets about looking for ways to raise funds for her bridal outfit.

Since Humpty Sharma ki Dulhania isn’t a documentary on young India’s materialism, it takes a dig at the designer obsession. There’s even a something on easily-available designer fakes that look like the real thing. The “fake” sellers swear the outfits are “real” and gullible people buy them happily.

Alia Bhatt’s look: Punjabi patialas, what else?

I’m bored of seeing Punjabi girls on screen wearing patiala salwars, like they don’t wear anything beyond that. Alia Bhatt wears her patialas almost all the time—with tees and kurtis, sometimes adding a shirt over the tee, or a tee with a sheer leheriya waistcoat. The dangling earrings and jhumkas may aim for an Indian boho look, but it seemed like she was trying too hard to look boho.

Interestingly, I found Alia’s makeup far more appropriate. As a typical Punjabi, she’d be likely to apply lots of colour on her face, so there’s blush and lipstick and kajal in several scenes. After all, Punjabis don’t really know the fine art of subtlety.

Varun Dhawan’s look: Tees, jeans and some jackets

As a vain guy, Humpty Sharma has carefully planned his look to project an I-don’t-care-a-damn look. For instance, he’s wearing pricey pairs of jeans and trendy t-shirts, like those with multi-hued stripes and tribal prints, often layered with shirts or light jackets. As far as his style goes, Humpty’s look was smart casual meets urban chic (for men). Costume designer Archana Walavalkar has done a great job styling Varun Dhawan.

But his key looks are the DDLJ-inspired ones (more on them below). If you remember DDLJ you know why they have some significance.

DDLJ-inspired costumes- The Hits and Misses

I would have loved to see an unusually-coloured lehenga on the bride in this movie (like Kajol’s green, which was unusual for the time), but Alia Bhatt wore orange for her mehendi and bright pink for her wedding, pretty standard choices for brides these days. And while Kavya experimented with her outfits during her Delhi stint, they were barely a shadow to Kajol’s daring outfits during her Europe trip (a statement on her month-long freedom).

The stronger DDLJ influence on costumes is seen on Varun Dhawan. When he wants to impress Kavya, he goes to meet her wearing a black leather jacket, very similar to the one Shahrukh Khan wore when he met Kajol in the train the first time. The spunky Kavya points out the jacket is completely inappropriate for the Delhi heat, deflating hiss ego. 😛 In the climax, Varun is in a brown jacket, again reminiscent of SRK’s costume in DDLJ in the famous train scene.

Humpty Sharma ki Dulhania may try to be an homage to DDLJ, but its costumes stand nowhere close to the fresh take on outfits seen in the original and nor does the movie, which was the GREATEST ROMANTIC MOVIE of all time. Yeah, I still <3 DDLJ. Sigh.

In Bollywood Fashion

Bollywood Fashion: Is Alia Bhatt dressed like an IIM student in 2 States?

Speaking ChicApril 21, 2014April 20, 2014Leave a comment

From her high-fashion costume stint in Student of the Year and minimum costume changes in Highway, Alia Bhatt had a completely new wardrobe to wear as Ananya Subramaniam in 2 States.

What Alia Bhatt wore

Styled by Manish Malhotra, Alia Bhatt wore a range of cotton kurtas—in neon shades, with jeans, or with a denim waistcoat. Her tees and tank tops were paired with ghagra skirts, and accessorised with jhumkas, cotton scarves and Kolhapuri wedges.

While Alia Bhatt looked great, I got a sense of déjà vu. I had spotted similar looks in other movies like Kareena Kapoor in Bodyguard (also styled by Manish Malhotra) and Kangana Ranaut in Tanu Weds Manu and Queen. All these looks are very Indo-boho / ethnic. You’d probably get Alia Bhatt’s huge collection of jhumkas, ghagra skirts and other such ethnic stuff Mumbai’s Colaba or Linking Road market and I’m sure every Indian town has such a market or two. There are also several local brands like Global Desi and Fab India who stock Indian-looking separates and accessories.

So what do girls at IIM wear?

While Alia Bhatt looks great and is styled well, I wondered what does a girl studying at IIM really wear? There is no definite answer of course- but I got some inputs from my hubby S (an IIM alumnus). While he claims he doesn’t remember much of his two years there (yeah, RIGHT!), and especially not what the girls wore, he add an interesting statement or two to make.

“The girls at IIM did not have time to accessorise or wear makeup.”

Packed lecture schedules, multiple projects and ongoing tests leaves IIM students with little or no time to do anything other than study. So for the girls there, there’s almost no time to find the right earrings before class or carefully apply liner to their upper and lower lash lines. But hey, I liked Alia’s nude pink lip colours.

“They mostly wore business suits to placement interviews.”

Alia Bhatt’s character Ananya wore a sari to her placement interview with Sunsilk (an HUL brand). Hubby confirms that almost all women wore business suits for their interviews- crisp shirt and trousers, blazer et al. Only one or two students chose to wear saris instead. Nice to know that Ananya was one of the rare ones!

“Only a handful of the girls were fashion-conscious.”

Ananya is clearly fashion-conscious- but while she doesn’t seem to follow trends, she has a flair for trying the quirky. Also, she seems to have a good fashion sense off campus as well. She wore a gorgeous sari to her boyfriend’s cousin’s wedding in Delhi- traditional but with bright colours. Given her fashion choices and cute looks, no wonder 11 guys hit on her on the first day at IIM!

What did you think of Alia Bhatt’s outfits in 2 States?

In 2012, Bollywood Fashion, Celebs, Interview

Chic 2012: The Bollywood Fashion Story

Speaking ChicJanuary 2, 2013January 1, 2013Leave a comment

In the movies

Cocktail’s three lead actors’ looks, all styled by Anaita Shroff Adajania, were a major part of the pre-release publicity blitz. Everyone wanted to know about Diana Penty’s jumpsuit and Deepika Padukone’s skirt. And no one really asked much about Saif Ali Khan, because he looked too old to be in the movie.

No one cared much about the clothes in Ishaqzaade, though I found the costumes in the movie to be among the most intelligently designed in recent Bollywood history. I can’t imagine Parineeti Chopra’s character without the black waistcoat over a fitted kurta.

The fashion in Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Student of the Year fell flat after high expectations. But where one lacked charm and romance, the latter’s mantra was “Brands, brands, brands” without a sensible story to tell.

On the covers

The surprise fashion mag cover girl find of the year was Kalki Koechlin (Women’s Health in November and Vogue the following month), while editorial favourite Sonam Kapoor appeared in Roberto Cavalli yet again on the cover of Grazia. (Yawn).

On the small screen

Amitabh Bachchan’s jackets and bandhgalas on Kaun Banega Crorepati were superbly elegant and finely tailored by Rohit Bal. Karan Johar donned casual- dressy blazers on Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, while Salman Khan’s Bigg Boss wardrobe was confusing (too many colours and styles).

Most people loved Madhuri Dixit’s Jhalak Dikhla Jaa clothes and jewellery, and her stylist made it a point to dress the actor in outfits from various Indian designers. No bodycon dresses for her!

Surprise style icon

Sridevi had been under the fashion watchers’ radar for a while now, but in 2012 she surprised everyone with a new-found, elegant look, wearing Manish Malhotra and Sabyasachi. She wowed everyone when she walked for the latter in Delhi, a far cry from her stumbling ramp appearance in an ugly silver-grey gown for Neeta Lulla couple years ago.

Not (yet) an icon

Alia Bhatt may have had a big debut with Student of the Year, and appeared on two covers (Vogue and Grazia), but her personal style quotient was quite blah. The problem? She tried too hard to look cute.

In 2012, Bollywood Fashion

Bollywood Fashion: Student of the Year is all about the brands

Speaking ChicOctober 25, 2012October 25, 2012Leave a comment

Karan Johar’s movies are not known for portraying stark reality, but Student of the Year is based in a hyper-real world. The “school” in the movie (St. Teresa) is perhaps the size of Hogwarts, houses students who are impossibly multi-faceted, good-looking and rich, and even the “Bata” gang dresses in premium brands.

Brands, brands, brands!

Alia Bhatt is Shanaya, the vain bimbo, who marvels at her beauty and pampers herself with brands. You name the brand, and it’s there. Her introductory song (Gulabi Aankhein) has a chorus which mentions and features luxury brands like Manolo, Jimmy Choo, Prada, Stella McCartney. Really! Take a look:

And then begins a game of spot-the-brand. Rishi Kapoor, for instance, pops open a Burberry umbrella in the sun, and reads notes from a Louis Vuitton case/ folder. Alia Bhatt totes a Dior bag and an Hermes Birkin. Even the sportswear is sponsored- the football uniforms by Puma and the triathlon clothes by Fusion (a UK brand specialising in triathlon clothing). As for the men in the movie—they are walking-talking Ray-Ban advertisements. 😀

Key Looks

Shanaya is a feminine girl who wears mostly dresses and skirts, sometimes hot shot pants. On a normal day, she carries a Birkin, and brings a Dior bag to her school canteen. The lucky girl also wears Manish Malhotra outfits to a wedding. Her wardrobe is so out of touch with reality that she doesn’t have “hospital” clothes.

Alia’s makeup (done by Mickey Contractor) is only about red lips, and her hair is straightened and slicked back with a cutesy hairband. This lucky young lady has got to wear the best designers and brands, but it’s unfortunate to see her in a uniform look throughout the movie (pun intended).

Rohan (Varun Dhawan) and Abhimanyu (Siddharth Malhotra) are The Dudes At School, so they look good in every frame. Varun plays an aspiring musician, hence quirky prints like Mickey Mouse tshirts and the like are his statement. Siddharth Malhotra is dressed a bit more “serious”. Even so, his character is “poor” enough to be on scholarship, but can afford Quiksilver tshirts, Aviators and designer kurtas. The guys’ buff bods work well for them and are an essential part of their look, since they need to look sexy in their body-hugging sports gear.

Meanwhile, Rishi Kapoor’s gay character wears polka dotted and pink ties with mismatched shirts and blazers with quirky brooches on the lapel (like a koala bear and crystal-encrusted reptile!).

The Coolest School

The uniform of this cool “school” is pretty awesome- you can wear anything you want, as long as you wear the school blazer over it. Manish Malhotra has styled the lead actors while Shiraz Siddique and Archana Walavalkar have worked with the supporting cast.

Being a Karan Johar movie, all characters look good, wear cool clothes and are quite trendy. If I went to such a learning institution, I’d either die of brand envy or spend an hour a day choosing my wardrobe and fixing my hair and makeup. Not to mention I’d end up draining my family’s precious money on clothes. And of course, there wouldn’t be time to study. 😉

While Karan Johar has attempted to make the movie as slick as possible, but the high dose of fashion seems looks almost implausible in real life. So yeah, if you like good-looking movies, Student of the Year is for you. If you like good movies though, then you can bunk this class.

All Pictures Courtesy: Dharma Productions