Exclusive: Costume Designer Samidha Wangnoo On The Fashion Flavour Of ‘Brahmāstra’, Styling Ranbir For Luv Ranjan’s Next Film, And Diet Sabya

Exclusive: Costume Designer Samidha Wangnoo On The Fashion Flavour Of ‘Brahmāstra’, Styling Ranbir For Luv Ranjan’s Next Film, And Diet Sabya

The conversation around costume design and cinema has stayed around for years. From being pockets for plot lines to often carving trends for life, fashion for the big screen has equally been aspirational and a point of inspiration for the audiences. And the latest set of India’s biggest blockbusters has been proof of that. Talking about this year’s most-awaited release–Brahmāstra, the film cuddled love from fans for its cinematic genius. From visual effects to the costume design, the world of Brahmāstra was bigger and better than ever. And talking about the film’s concept-driven costumes is designer and actor Ranbir Kapoor’s stylist–Samidha Wangnoo, who collaborated with celebrity stylist/costume designer– Anaita Shroff Adajania for Ayan Mukerjee’s dream project. Spilling the beans on the film’s sartorial aesthetic, Samidha also talks about her Netflix project The Fame Game, and her all-new collaboration with Ranbir Kapoor for Luv Ranjan’s untitled film.

Q: What was the vision behind the costumes of Brahmāstra?

Samidha Wangnoo: Basically what we actually did was all of Ayan (Mukerjee) to be very fair and honest. This was Ayan’s vision. He had something in mind and we had translated it into reality, well I hope so. We took inspiration from a lot of like Hindu mythology, and a lot of our characters, and a lot of the building happened from there. For example, Mouni’s character came from Goddess Kaali. So the inspiration that came out of it, and we started taking few nuances from it. So, it was all Ayan, he was very clear about what he wanted and we just helped like put it together.

Q: The colour palette has a lot of reds, and kesariya is the theme of the film. What was the significance of these shades with respect to the plot?

Samidha Wangnoo: Red is a very powerful colour and an element that Ayan wanted in the film. So, you see a lot of small red details. Not only in Alia’s character, but even in the three assassins, who have like a little hint of red. And the overall colour palettes were a very big way to go forward for the film. We wanted to make sure that every frame had a particular colour palette. Every scene, and every chapter of our film was in different colour tones and colour palettes. As you said, kesariya was the key to the film. We made sure it had the spirit of Varanasi in it. It had like oranges, and mustard and reds and all of that. “Dance Ka Bhoot” again was like a different colour palette all together. So, every chapter of our film, every song, every scene, he made sure that it was colour-coordinated in a way that looked aesthetically nice and it fixed the theme of the film as well.

Q: You also designed costumes for Shah Rukh Khan’s cameo role in the film. How challenging is it to dress someone as charismatic as him, and make sure his character doesn’t overpower the rest?

Samidha Wangnoo: As you said, there isn’t anything that he hasn’t already done. We didn’t want to overpower his character or him because you can’t, and we wanted the clothes to be simple at the same time. It had to be something which would fit the character. So we kept it very basic, but it also had to be action friendly. His entire sequence in this cameo is one of the biggest action sequences that we see in the film. So, keeping all of that in mind, it was very clear that we wanted to keep it as basic as possible, not to take away from the character. So, these were just a few things that we put into it. We thought–what he’s going to do? This situation that he was in, he’s in the night, he’s sitting with this telescope, he’s a scientist. So, just keeping it really basic.

Image Credits: Instagram

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by ????????? (@samidha.wangnoo)

Q: Mouni’s character Junoon outshined above all, and her costume helped us understand the world that she belongs to. What was the inspiration behind that look?

Samidha Wangnoo: For Junoon, we wanted to detail a lot of her stuff, so we customised most of her jewellery. There were very tiny details that we did put in the jewellery. We initially started sketching in 2017. Yeah, it’s been that long. I realised it when I was like going through my sketches now. We wanted to make it fun. So if you notice, they’re mostly like a caricature and it’s not like a proper sketch as such. Then we were trying to build that, and she had to be a warrior, she had to be an assassin.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by ????????? (@samidha.wangnoo)

She had to look powerful. So, these were the key factors that we used while making her costumes. We even designed her tattoos. We had to keep it very ethnic, it was a mix of both worlds. In my head, she was probably a girl from Rajasthan, so she had a little bit of a tribal tattoo and feel to her, even some of the fabrics that we’ve used have a lot of details in them. There were bandhanis which were dyed and aged and everything. So we did try to mix a lot of elements.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by ????????? (@samidha.wangnoo)

Q: A film or a show that you recently watched and loved its costume designing?

Samidha Wangnoo: I love period dramas, and it’s not very recent, but I mean, that’s the last that I saw. And in terms of characters and costume design, something that really blew my mind was Gangubai Kathiawadi. I just thought that every frame of that film was so surreal. I wish I could be working on a film like that. Even the colour palettes that they followed, and the sea of whites. It is just too beautiful. That’s something that I really like and I think Sheetal Sharma has done a fantastic job on that. I was more intrigued by looking at it and every detail, every character, people walking on the streets, it was brilliant.

Q: I am so glad you mentioned Gangubai Kathiawadi. It is also interesting how Alia Bhatt continued to look like her character, even while promoting her film. This is a unique strategy that actors are using while marketing their films today. Was it also a conscious choice made by Ranbir, while you styled him for Brahmāstra promotions?

Samidha Wangnoo: Honestly, when we started off promotions, I was doing the first half of it, but unfortunately, I was unwell and I was down with Covid. But for the first leg of the promotions, we did end up doing some detailing. Like, we did give him a little bit of Shiva element. If you notice, he’s wearing this kadha (bangle), which has the Brahmāstra symbol, that we customised for him, which is very interesting. So he wore that for the first leg of the promotions.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Alia Bhatt ?☀️ (@aliaabhatt)

Q: I am a big Ranbir Kapoor fan, and I have been loving his experiments with fashion these days. When did your style journey with Ranbir start?

Samidha Wangnoo: I’m a huge fan of him as well. I love him. So, I met him in 2011, during the shoot of Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani. So, that was my first film and we worked together then. I was styling Aditya Roy Kapoor, Kalki and the rest of the cast and since then we’ve been working. Later I did Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, and now Brahmāstra. Then, I was called by him to style him for the Luv Ranjan film which he’s doing with Shraddha (Kapoor). So I’m doing the costumes for that. And it just began from there. I’ve known him for almost 10 years. He’s a lovely, lovely person. We were, we were in a lockdown. We came out of a lockdown and then I started doing some of his personal work as well, and the movie collaborations continued and everything. So it’s been great. It’s always fantastic to work with someone like him. I’m truly blessed to have people like him and Ayan because I have no connection with the industry. I don’t have anybody, but they’ve literally been there, they’ve guided me every time when I need something, and they’ve always, like appreciated everything I did.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by ????????? (@samidha.wangnoo)

Q: You mentioned working with Ranbir for Luv Ranjan’s untitled project. What can you tell us about his look in the film? What can Ranbir fans expect from this project?

Samidha Wangnoo: I mean, I obviously, cannot talk much about it. But again it is a Luv Ranjan film and he’s made some fantastic films and done some great work. It’s gonna be like a fun family watch for everybody. Lots of laughs, Ranbir and Shraddha looking amazing as usual. With respect to his look for the film, he will not be looking very different. But in most of the films that we’ve seen in the past in a sort of this genre or vibe, he’s played a much younger character. For example, in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani he was much younger. But in this, he’s just gonna be a little more mature and a classic man in terms of his style. As opposed to like the boy next door sort of a thing. But then again, he has that beautiful face, which always camouflages everything.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by ????????? (@samidha.wangnoo)

Q: You’ve been working with Ranbir for quite some time now. Is he fussy about a particular style, fabric or colour?

Samidha Wangnoo: He’s not at all fussy. He’s one of the easiest people I’ve ever dealt with. Besides being the nicest, he will always leave it up to you as to what you think. But he is not very experimental. He has a very particular style and he likes to stick by it, which is fair. I don’t think that as stylists we need to change a person’s personality or personal style, we just need to enhance it better. But he is the most wonderful, easiest person to ever work with.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by ????????? (@samidha.wangnoo)

Q: As a celebrity stylist your work is often critiqued by the world, and also with Diet Sabya rating celebrity fashion, there is a lot of chatter around every look. How do you deal with criticism if that ever comes your way, and how do you think Diet Sabya has impacted the fashion industry?

Samidha Wangnoo: If we accept compliments, then we should be open to constructive criticism as well. Thanks to social media, if we are able to showcase our work and reach a larger audience, then we should also be able to accept the criticism that comes our way. Everyone has an opinion and it can differ from yours, and that is absolutely fine. As for Diet Sabya, I feel like stylists and celebrities have upped their fashion game and are trying to put out better work, since there is a Diet Sabya who is policing the fashion industry.

Also Read: Mouni Roy Is Aware Of People Comparing Her Brahmāstra Look With Scarlet Witch’s And Junoon Doesn’t Care!

Q: You also styled Madhuri Dixit and the rest of the cast in The Fame Game. We saw the colour red, power dressing, and a wave of minimalism headlining the show’s costumes. What was the inspiration behind that?

Samidha Wangnoo: It was actually our director who came up with this colour called the ‘Anamika Red,’ which we identified as a shade that we wanted to use for her character. She was someone who is strong, glamorous and an actress, but at the same time is also a mother and has to have a soft side to her because he wanted that. That nurturer side of hers was incorporated into her costumes as well. So, when she plays Anamika, she is powerful and she is extremely glamorous. But when she’s playing a mother and is at home, we wanted to make her look more vulnerable. So, we used softer fabrics and softer colour tones.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by ????????? (@samidha.wangnoo)

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by ????????? (@samidha.wangnoo)

Also Read: Brahmāstra’ Fans Theorise That Alia Bhatt Is The Jal Astra Instead Of Deepika Padukone

Q: The collaboration between reel-life Anamika and real-life Anamika Khanna, the designer who did the costumes for the character was interesting. How did that come about?

Samidha Wangnoo: A lot of meetings and Zoom meetings. We went through each of the looks that we wanted. We collaborated on them and Anamika designed them for us. We are lucky and grateful that we got someone as fantastic as her, to do those costumes for us. Be it the sarees that she’s worn at the premiere night, or the red outfit, it was all great.

Q: A celebrity you think is nailing the style game?

Samidha Wangnoo: At the moment, I would say– Kiara Advani. She looked fab in everything she wore for the promotions of Bhool Bhulaiya 2 and Jug Jugg Jeeyo. Lakshmi Lehr did a fantastic job. Like every time she came, she would be looking fantastic.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by VarunDhawan (@varundvn)

Q: A celebrity that you haven’t styled yet and you would love to style in the future.

Samidha Wangnoo: I would really like to style Allu Arjun. I’ve never been someone who watches a lot of South Indian films. But then I watched some during the lockdown, and was fully blown. So, yeah Allu Arjun.

Image Credits: Instagram

From Alia Bhatt In ‘Brahmāstra’ To Anushka Sharma In ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’, Here Are 5 Female Characters Who Could Have Been Better Explored

 

Jasveen Kaur Sawhney

Jasveen Kaur is a fashion writer, and pyjama hoarder, who loves watching interviews of all kinds, and checking her Pinterest mood board every hour!

Read More From Jasveen
Seen it all?

We’ve got more!

4 Tripti Dimri Movies That We Think Are Better Than Animal 5 reasons Why Crew Star Diljit Dosanjh Is At The Peak Of His Career 6 Korean Skin Care Tips To Follow For Flawless Skin Like Heeramandi’s Aditi Rao Hydari A Pregnant Woman’s Guide To Slaying Ethnic Outfits Like Mom-To-Be Richa Chadha Chamkila Star Parineeti Chopra’s Fashion Screams Comfort! From Aditi Rao Hydari To Rani Mukerji, 8 Bollywood Couples Who Tied The Knot Away From the Spotlight Bharti Singh’s 8 Desi Colorful Outfits That Reflect Her Vibrant Spirit Disha Patani Will Be The Prettiest White Bride, Prove These Pics How To Style Bling Like A Boss Ft. Shraddha Das