Fashion is all about knowing your history right: Costume Designer Ketki Dalal

Well-known costume designer Ketki Dalal is currently working with Sagar Arts for Jai Jag Janani Maa Durga on Colors. She is the one who, by way of her costume designs, adds soul to a character. Her superior art on cloth turns out to be the source of creativity on screen. In short, she is the one who brings the persona of Maa Durga alive on screen even in the 21st century. Inquisitive to see how wardrobes spell magic, we cornered Ketki for a candid interview on the sidelines of the sets where the shoot was on. Excerpts: Tell us something about yourself? (smiles) Well, I am working in this industry since the last 20 years and do you know who inspired me to get into designing wardrobes? It was none other than Oscar award winner Bhanu Athaiya. In my long carrier, I have done numerous shows on television and films. Currently, I am also working with Sagar Arts for Jai Jai Bajrangbali on Sahara besides Jai Jag Janani Maa Durga. I am even working in Harry Baweja’s Punjabi 3D animation film Chaar Sahibzaade. This will be for the first time that the life of Guru Gobind Singh will be shown in a different way for people who have heard and read about him. Earlier, I have also done shows like Kumkum and Chandragupta Maurya. How has your journey been so far? (blushes) So far, it has been an excellent experience. Since I have a lot more to do, I have enough time ahead to learn and imbibe. It’s a challenge of being ahead of time and work along exploring your own self with every little change taking place around you. Fashion is the only thing which keeps on changing with time and so does your knowledge of it. Fashion of past remains the same, but presently you need to learn as well as decide as to what will come in the future. How have fashion evolved in these 20 years? Earlier people used to follow trends, but today people follow their personal fashion dictionary. The biggest transition that has happened today is that today people look at themselves in the mirror and dress up accordingly, but in early days people used to follow each other rather than seeing themselves in the mirror. Now, everybody knows what fashion is and what suits them. Fashion is nothing but speaking about your own personality and feeling yourself. Comfort and simplicity are also in the list of fashion diary. Why to be rat in this trendy world when you can set a trend on your own. Has it so happened that an actor has come up with issues pertaining to design of your clothes? It happens many a times, but it is not they don’t like my design or they hate the style; it’s just that sometimes they are not comfortable in them. There are people who don’t like skin show, some don’t like traditional wear while some have problems in carrying heavy jewellery. The issues are never in the design of the clothes because as far as a character needs to be shown, I know better what suits it, not the actor. I design clothes according to the character not to the comfort of an actor. Issues arise because a producer puts in so much of money, the whole creative team puts in their effort to design one particular costume because making an outfit to suit a character and that too of a mythological show consumes a lot of effort. I don’t look into the issues; I look for solutions and every actor needs to be handled accordingly, because if an actor is not comfortable with any particular outfit, then he/she will also not be able to shoot properly. What is the challenge in designing clothes for a daily soap and a mythological? Designing clothes for daily shows is far easier than for mythological shows. Daily shows are based on what you wear in your day-to-day life. Like, if you are going for a wedding, then dress in a wedding attire. On the contrary, for mythological shows, you need to dress clothes only what generations have seen so far and if you try and bring any change in them, then things will not work out. Because everybody today has grown up seeing what a mythological hero looks like and so in order to show God on television, the relativity from the past has to come in the character. What is your personal idea of designing clothes? (pauses) I believe in research, because certain guidance related to history will only help to create it in the present time. For me, to create Lord Rama’s attire, I need to first know the history of Lord Rama. Creating an era today, is very difficult unless and until I am well versed with its history? I always design clothes in such a manner that it should be utilized at least for 10 times in a show. Every design is a reflection of one’s mood and one should feel good after looking oneself in the mirror. Everybody knows himself/herself very well than anybody else does. So the outfit one wears should reflect one’s own personality and not of somebody else. What do you keep in mind while designing clothes for any character? I always design clothes keeping the character in mind. For me, every character is a main lead and I design clothes looking through their perspective in the entire story. I first do my research and perfect detailing of every character and work accordingly. Which is your most memorable design? My most memorable design was for the character named Dhana Nanda in Chandragupta Maurya. The character was to be designed in such a way that it looked half man and half woman. My director gave me just 2 hours to design the attire. Anyhow, I tried my best to create the character in the given time making myself very clear that it has to be shown on television. For such a character, even the makeup has to be done very loud because the negativity should be shown on the face too. My director thinks that I have a magic wand and can create anything by taking it from history and presenting the same in the given time. What in the world would you love to create? (blushes) Of course, my favorite would be a historical character and one person I would love to create is Maharana Pratap Singh. I would also love to bring the 5000 year- old history back on television with the same spice and essence. For me, fashion is simple that is to know your history right. What advice would you like to give to new aspiring designers? Please do your research correctly and come on the sets, try and understand a trend happening around and not in the way it appears, but create your own version. What are your future plans? Bring more history on television.