Mumbai21 minutes agoWriters: Kiran Jain and Abhinav Tripathi
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In this week's Reel to Real we talked about costume selection, challenges, budget and the role of the designer in TV serials.
We often talk about the grandeur of Indian television serials. Expensive sets, famous starcast, engaging scripts and heavy costumes. Most of the show's budget is spent on costumes.
What the actors will wear in the show is decided by the show's director, creative director and people associated with the channel. They hire costume designers for this. Once the costume designers are on board, they are given a brief about the characters of the show. According to that brief, the costume designers prepare clothes for each character.
In this week's Reel to Real we talked about costume selection, challenges, budget and the role of the designer in TV serials. For this we visited many locations including the set of the serial 'Krishna Mohini'. Costume designer Partho Ghoshal who was present there told us some interesting things. Partho said that usually more than 10 lakh rupees are spent on costumes every month in a TV show. Since the shows run for a long time, their budget goes into crores.
Apart from this, we also spoke to costume designer Jeetu Lakhani who designs clothes for the famous TV character Jethalal (Dilip Joshi). He told that the raw material for Jethalal's clothes, which look ordinary on screen, is ordered from Italy. People also order clothes like Jethalal's.
Dilip Joshi as Jethalal has been entertaining the audience for the last one and a half decade.
Jethalal's clothes have never been repeated in 16 years
We visited designer Jeetu Lakhani's store in Borivali, Mumbai. Here clothes of the famous character Jethalal of Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah are designed. Jeetu Lakhani has been making clothes for Jethalal i.e. Dilip Joshi for almost 16 years. In these 16 years, not a single piece of Jethalal's clothes has been repeated. Those clothes look simple, but their fabric is imported from Italy.
Jeetu Lakhani's younger brother Rohit Lakhani said that people from across the country and abroad call him and give him orders to make clothes like Jethalal's.
Lakhs of rupees are spent on costumes
Partha told that the production team spends more than 10 lakhs on the costume department every month. Most of the money is spent on lehengas. Approximately 40 to 50 thousand rupees are spent on making one lehenga. Whereas up to 15 thousand rupees can be spent on the lead hero's suit. Up to 10 thousand rupees are spent on a normal shirt-pants or ladies salwar-suit.
Thousands of clothes are kept on the set
Partha Ghoshal told that the costume designer gets very little time to make the clothes. Sometimes they are asked to make the clothes in just one day. Partha took us to a room. There were about 3 thousand clothes kept there. He told that all these clothes are kept for the actors to wear. Apart from clothes, shoes and jewellery were also kept there. During the shooting, clothes and shoes are taken out from here and delivered to the artists.
Full attention is given to the maintenance of clothes
Special attention is also paid to maintaining the clothes. Once or twice a month they are taken out and sent for laundry. Some clothes are such that they cannot be washed repeatedly, so they are steamed so that they look new and fresh.
Some dresses are flashy only in appearance, but are soft from inside
You must have often seen that artists are seen wearing heavy dresses in TV serials. Especially female artists are seen in these getups. However, they are not as heavy in reality as they appear. Very light and comfortable clothes are used to make them.
We asked Partha how he convinces the actors to wear heavy clothes? In response, he said, 'Wedding scenes are definitely filmed in every function. In this, especially female actors are seen in lehenga. These lehengas are heavy. In this condition, we use light fabric for lehenga or saree, so that there is no problem in wearing it.'
Costume designer Partho (left) checks the clothes from every angle, then sends them to the set.
Sometimes clothes become loose or tight at the last moment
Sometimes it happens that during the shooting the clothes become loose or tight, in such a case they are immediately altered with the help of a tailor. Actress Debatma of the TV serial 'Krishna Mohini' said, 'Sometimes the clothes given to us do not fit. They have to be changed at the last moment.'
If the cloth is not according to the actor's size, then it is immediately fitted by the tailor present on the set.
The director of the show gives a brief to the costume designer about each character
What is the first process of preparing clothes for the characters of a TV show? Partha said, 'First we are given a brief about all the characters by the director of the show. Then we sit with the writer with the script. Now suppose there is a character in the show who is not financially capable or we can say that he is shown as poor in the show.
In such a situation, while designing her dress, two-three things have to be kept in mind. First, the dress should be made in such a way that it does not look new. There should not be many signs in it. The weaving should be such that at first glance it can be felt that the cloth is very old.'
Making costumes for religious and mythological TV shows is the most challenging
Partha said that preparing the clothes of the actors for mythological shows is the most challenging. A lot of detailing has to be done. Since the matter is related to religion, a lot of research is done on the character first. Studies are also done.
If a show is being made on Lord Vishnu, then we first have to research about his look. There is a long discussion with the director of the show on which dress will suit his character.
In shows which have a middle class theme, the characters are shown wearing repeating clothes.
Do characters in TV shows repeat clothes? Partha said, 'In shows where the story is about a middle class family, clothes are repeated. This is so that the audience finds the show relatable. On the other hand, in shows where some royalty is shown, the chances of clothes being repeated are very less.
Sometimes, after 50 episodes, we show minor characters again in old clothes. As a costume designer, I avoid repeating dresses in my shows. This is so that I can show my creativity as much as possible.
Partha's team members working on a dress.
If a scene is shot for multiple days, then repeating the clothes becomes a necessity
Does the production team ever instruct to repeat the clothes? Partha says that the production house never instructs to repeat the clothes again and again. This happens only when a scene is telecasted for 3-4 days continuously.
For example, in a scene it is shown that a person is going from village to city and this journey is taking him many days, in this condition the actor has to be shown in the same clothes. In this situation we keep 2-3 clothes of the same type in backup, so that there is no problem of any kind.
The actors sometimes deliberately annoy the designer
Sometimes it happens that the clothes etc. are all right, but the actors deliberately create problems. They also create a lot of drama regarding the clothes they wear. Partha said, 'This has happened to me twice. There is a top actress, I will not take her name. She has tried to trouble me every time. The dresses were in good condition, yet to trouble me she would falsely accuse me that the clothes were not right. Because of this the shooting would also get delayed.
Has it ever happened that the production house did not pay after the work? Partha said, 'Yes, there has been an incident. There was a show on Zee channel. The production team of the show did not pay our team including the actors after the work was over. Then I filed a complaint in our association, which helped a lot. After this, nothing like this has happened to me till now.'
Earlier in the TV industry, actors used to work on their own clothes and looks
We asked famous TV actress Sudha Chandran about costumes and styling. In response, she said, 'When I did my first TV show, we did not have stylists etc. We used to do our own makeup. Even clothes had to be arranged from here and there.'
Some producers take a lot of interest in costume designing. One of them is JD Majethia. JD Majethia, who has produced famous TV shows like Wagle Ki Duniya, said that unlike other producers, he also shows proper interest in costume designing.
Graphics- Vipul Sharma