BLAST FROM Tl-IE PAST, BOLLWOOD'S GOING VINTAGE

Call it the filmmaker's confidence in the bygone era or their love for the romanticism of the retro look - Bollywood's forthcoming offerings like Lootera, Gunday, Bombay Velvet and Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai Dobara have oodles of the past in their look and feel.

Old world charm has gripped Bollywood, a key element of Indian cinema that is celeb rating 100 years of its existence this year But it requ ires the right mix of research and vision to hit the bull 's eye as far as styling such projects is concerned, designers say

A retro look can be described as anything from t h e 1930sto the 1960s or even the 1980s, said designer Pria Kataaria Puri, who is responsib le for actress Priyanka Chopra 's look in the remake of the 1973 filmZanjeer Research is the key, claims Puri, stating that when styling an actress according to the fash i on of the 1960s, knowing the way women wore saris and eyeliner, and made the beehive hairdo, i s crucial.

There are different examples of fi lms experimenting with some distinct looks of the past - some focus on bell -bottoms and some on fitted short kurtis, wh il e others are inspired by the Sadhana cut, the bouffant, the cat eye makeu p, the oversized glasses and the hairbands, as well as the unique sari drapes

Lootera, a pe ri od romance drama set in the West Bengal of 19S0, spells the vintage flavour from the word go - Ranveer Singh sports a clean-shaven, hatted and neat look, complete with crisp white shi rts and chic braces to hold up his trousers His on-screen lady love, essayed by Sonakshi Sinha, i s seen in simp le saris teamed with quarter-sleeved blouses and a big round bindi.

Fashion from the past years also reflects i n Gunday, set in the Kolkata of 1971 to 1988. True to its time period, the film's lead actress, Priyanka Chopra, dons a stunning retro look, with sensuous saris, sleeveless blouses and long tresses.

Similar is the case for Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai Dobara, with the story backdropped against Mumbai of the late 1980s.

In her new film Bombay Velvet, actress Anushka Shar ma w ill reportedly go retro as the movie chronicles the evolution of Mumbai over a period of two decades

The trend is surely up and coming!

Ace designer Anju Modi, who has designed costumes for Sanjay Leela Bhansali 's period drama Ram Leela, co- starring Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone said it is the romanticism of the retro look"which inspires filmmakers to dig i nto the past.

" They like to recreate the old world charm. Whil e there is no dearth of stories that they can derive from the modern era, there is a ce rtain glamour that constantly draws Bollywood filmmakers to the retro look;' said Modi.

Globally known designer Ritu Kumar said of the trend, "It is a measure of confidence in India's history and identity that any industry goes looking back to recreate a bygone feel and t o uch:'

Designer and styl ist Pernia Qureshi , who was behind Boll ywood actress Sonam Kapoor's uber chic styl e in Aisha, believed " lndian films have now started taking fashion more seriously''. " People have realised how styling can play a key role in portraying exactly what i s needed;' Qureshi said

"To go deep into a character, the clothing, accessories and the overall look are vital. The retro look is about imitating the styles from the past without losing out on the modernity of the clothing and the looks so that it is relatable to the people of today's day and age;· she ad ded.

IIFA and women empowerment

The 14th edition of the Internat iona l Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards has added women empowerment as a cause that it will pursue under the programme 'Power of49'.

"I t gives me great pleas u re to announce that IIFA from this year onwards has taken upon itself, in addition to climate change, as a cause it wishes to pu rsue - the ' Power of 49~' veteran actress Shabana Azmi announced recently at a press meet.

"Fortynin e percent i s the figure of the women we have in our country today, and as a nation we can ca ll ourselves civilized if this 49 percent gets empowered,"Shabana added

Fi lmmaker R Bal ki believes fi lms can promote t h e cause in a l ot of ways - for instance superstar Shah Rukh Kh an's initiative to name Deepika Padukone fi r st in the credit ro ll of their upcoming fi l m Chennai Express

"It's always 'starring somebody ' and then the heroine. I th i nk Shah Rukh was good enough to be the fi r st person to say I' ll do it d ifferently and Chennai Express wil l be the first fi l m where Deepika s name wi ll come first and then Shah Rukh's So it's a signal and not an end by itself, that focus on the 49 percent;' Bal ki sa id

"So films can do it in a l ot of ways and the same thing will happen at II FA. IIFA p l ans to surpr ise you at the show There will be a change which w ill signal something extremel y sign ificant as far as this cause goes," he added Well, at least the II FA is now recognising the contribut ion of women in Bol lywood There's a l ong way to go, but at l east it's a start!

What 's the drama about D - Day?

Spies and pat r iots, not gangsters and villains, says O-Day director N ikhi l Advani. He vehemently asserts that his film is not a regular underworl d or ' bhaigiri' one, but a serious espi onage thri ller based on the country 's intel ligence age n cy RAW an d its operations. Actors Arj un Rampa I, lrrfan and Huma Quresh i are p l aying RAW agents in the film " There is no connection to the underworld It i s about terror ism, it is about bri nging back Indi a's most wanted man It is an espionage thr iller. All three of them and A aka sh Dahiya, they ar e spies, they are RAW agents;'said the director recently "Ther e is no ' bhaigiri' in the film. It is about India, it is about four patriots;' he added Shruti Haasan will feature in it, with Rishi Kapoor in the role of an antagonist With that kind of impressive star cast, O-Day could well enjoy a V-day at the box office. It releases soon, so let's wait and see!

Hi rani's not running races

Director Rajkumar Hi rani has a slew of successf ul films under his be lt, li ke Munnabhai MBBS, Lage Raho Munnabhai and 3 Idiots, which makes the cur ious compare his success to his contemporaries But Hirani insists that he is not running a race with any director, inst ead h is endeavour is to tell good stories. Currently, he i s busy shooting P.K., starring Aamir Khan and Anushka Sharma in the lead.

"I don't think any of us is running a race. I don't think I am running a race with any other d i rector or his fi l ms I don't think we are in a race at al l;' Hirani stated recently, rather repetit ively Fortunatel y he elaborated, saying "All of us are telling stori es which are completely d ifferent. If we tell good stories, if it connects w ith audiences, all the films will work. So the re is no race!"

According to Hirani , there is no formu l a to make a successful fi l m "I don't think any of us can make a formu l a If we cou ld, then every film would work So the best thing is not to worry about whether your film w i ll work or n ot Try and make what will wo r k for you So my effort is to try and tell a story that works for me, I connect with , and which I bel ieve in ;' sa i d the SO -year- old filmmaker Well Aamir can make any story work , so race or no race, Hirani 's onto a winner!

Intimacy, but in front of mummy

Sonakshi Sinha was i n the news recently, when her l ovemaking scene with co-sta r Ranveer Si ngh for Lootera was compl eted in the presence of her mother!

Apparent ly Poonam Sinha was there to make sure that the scene di d n't get too raunchy Sonakshi usually has a nointi macy policy with her films, but this one scene is the plot tw i ster, and couldn 't be avoided So mum came al ong to keep

Shabana Azmi

it all clean. And what was her verdict? Well, no more acting lessons for Sonakshi! Poonam was so in awe of her daughter's performance in the film, she admitted that even Sonakshi's father, veteran actor Shatrughan Sinha, will think tw i ce before advising her on anything after the film.

Directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, Lootera is a period romance set in the 1950s. Poonam was also generous in her praise for Ranveer. " Ranveer and Sonakshi, both have done brilliantly wel l. A mother doesn't consider her children that talented, but when outsiders say so, she agrees But I think I have to bow down to Ranveer and Sonakshi 's work in the film;' she said

So whi le Sonaksh i had mummy, who did Ranveer turn to for reassurance and inspiration? Director Vikramaditya, of course, who made both actors comfortable for the intimate scene "Sonakshi is so coo l that I never felt awkward. We all are professiona l actors and this is our work Vikramaditya made a closed set for our comfort where there was only cameraman, Vikram, myself

Nikhil Advani And Arjun Rampal

and Sonakshi. He gave us our own space and was very supportive;' said Ranveer, perhaps conven i ently forgetting the presence of mummy Poonam The actor said the director made it clear that if an actor is doing an emotional scene "then res p ect him or her so that they can perform".

Ranveer's look in Lootera has been inspired by late Ho llywood actor James Dean and Bollywood legend Dev Anand, he said "Vikram was very clear it had to be an amalgamation of James Dean and Dev Anand So those were the references that he used to send me;'reveal ed the 28-year-old actor. I did not do anything, he knew the kind of look he wanted, the kind of hair he wanted Every detail he looked i nto, so I really didn't give any input this time it was all Vikram 's," said Ranveer who is happy with the appreciation his clean look is garnering, especially from his female fans Both stars are expecting the usual barrage of e e e e e e