The official trailer of Ranbir Kapoor-Sai Pallavi starrer Ramayana: Part 1, which was released recently, received plenty of criticism for many elements, one of them being historically costumes. The costumes for Sai Pallavi’s Sita and Lara Dutta’s Kaikeyi, in particular, were criticsed for being too modern and overdone in their use of jewellery and ornaments. However in a recent interview, the film’s costume designer duo Rimple and Harpreet Narula addressed the issue.
Speaking with NDTV, Rimple said about Lara Dutta’s costume, “What people don’t understand is that there is a complexity to Kaikeyi as a mother. She is trying to protect her own son but she is also banishing Lord Ram. I have given a green blouse, which reflects mother Earth. I deliberately gave her a dark kind of an ox blood saree, dark maroon colour, to reflect that complexity of the situation. Every colour you see is a vegetable dye, a natural dye.”
The costume designer duo also talked about how a global audience was on their mind while deciding the costumes and overall look. Rimple added, “I had to go by what the global audience would identify instantly with it as an Indian epic saga. It wasn’t designed in isolation, but done cohesively with the director on board, and then we came to a conclusion about the look of Sita. It’s our own adaptation and interpretation to show the world where the global audiences are going to identify it as an Indian epic. Today, what is the global audience looking at India for? Saree.”
Meanwhile, Harpeet spoke about how their prioritised faith over authenticity, explaining, “How have we grown up watching their images on calendars, mandirs, or pre-modern art, and what do we usually see there... that was more important for us. It was a conscious decision for us to make blouses a certain way, and to do sarees a certain way. We wanted to go by faith over authenticity.”
Produced by Namit Malhotra and directed by Nitesh Tiwari, Ramayana: Part 1 is set for global release on November 6, followed by India release on November 8. The mythological epic also stars Yash, Ravie Dubey, and Rakul Preet Singh.
