Rahman's lucky outfit for Oscars Zofeen Maqsood New Delhi, February 14,
2009
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India Today expert view on
Rahman's lucky outfit for Oscars
In celebrity circles, it is a crime to repeat the same outfit at two high
profile events. But clearly, music maestro A.R. Rahman thinks otherwise. He
plans to wear the black bandhgala he wore to the BAFTA awards ceremony
earlier this month, to the Oscars too.
Fashion designer Rohit Bal, who designed Rahman's black outfit, says,
"Rahman is a man of simple tastes. Even while planning for the grand Oscar
night, the last thing on his mind was what to wear at the ceremony. So, he
has chosen to repeat his black bandhgala that was designed for the BAFTA."
But during such ceremonies, when what a guest wears at the function gains as
much of news space as what award he goes on to win, is it a conscious
decision by the music genius to be seen in the same outfit twice? "The black
bandhgala is actually like that little black dress. It's a classic - you
can't go wrong there.
In fact, Rahman seems to have taken a greater liking for the outfit post his
lucky spell at BAFTA," says Bal.
But what was the brief that Rahman gave to the designer the first time
around? "Rahman is very simple yet very stern about his choices. While
briefing on his BAFTA outfit, he made it very clear that it has to be a
black, formal, Indian outfit. He was a little wary of the black tie evening
ensemble and didn't want to wear a tuxedo. He insisted on having an ethnic
touch to his outfit. So we decided on a black bandhgala which is practically
like an Indian national dress and is formal enough to be worn on an evening
like this." Since Rahman wanted to stick to the same style for the Oscars
too, Bal says, nothing could have been better than the elegant Indian
outfit.
Bal claims the only inspiration that he drew from while designing a red
carpet outfit for a genius like Rahman was his profound simplicity.
"I used a black light- weight wool fabric for the bandhgala and added a
black velvet border to it. There is a black on black tonal embroidery on the
collars with just a hint of Swarovski. The lines are clean cut with a sharp
silhouette," the designer adds.
It took Bal 10 days to complete the maestro's outfit. Rahman gave most of
his brief and measurements over the mail. Once the outfit was ready it was
sent to him for trial.
When the Indian stars these days are trying out Armanis and Ralph Laurens on
the red carpet, it was surprising that Rahman decided to go for an Indian
designer.
"It's an honour that he chose me. The fact remains that Rahman has been
wearing a lot of my stuff, which he used to buy from a store called
Evoluzione in Chennai. In fact, I got a call from the store owner informing
me that Rahman would like to wear my design for the event. I am only too
glad that he now also plans to wear the outfit to the biggest celebrity
night ever," says the proud designer.
*Courtesy: Mail Today <http://www.mailtoday.in/>*
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--
regards,
Vithur
