In his attempt to get into the skin of the character he’s playing in his next film, Pawan Kalyan will sport about thirty different outfits. Hari Hara Veera Mallu, a period drama directed by Krish, is set in the seventeenth century against the backdrop of Moghul and Qutub Shahis’ eras.
Talking about the costumes in the period drama, the film’s costume designer Aishwarya Rajeev states that there was a lot of research that went into designing Pawan’s costumes.
“As this is the story of a legendary heroic outlaw, and that too an untold story in Indian cinema, a great level of detailing went into getting the right costumes. There was a lot of detailing that also went with fabrics, outfits, colour patterns and accessories,” shares Aishwarya, who has earlier worked for award-winning films such as Kanche and Gautami Putra Sathakarini.
Much to the pleasant surprise of Aishwarya, who was apparently nervous about the feedback from the actor for the clothes, Pawan gave an okay to all the outfits in just two costume trials.
“That’s a big achievement for me. Thankfully, the first look of the film has also got a tremendous response,” she adds. Apparently, around 1,000 thans of fabric was sourced from various parts of India for designing the outfits for all the actors in the film.
“I travelled to all the places to ensure that the fabric, colour, accessories and other jewellery complements the actor’s character. And that has been the most challenging part,” she explains.
Interestingly, Pawan will be seen in three different looks in the film. And most of the accessories such as kadiam (bracelet) and footwear, which he sports in the film, are custom-made.
“Whatever work is being done, it is according to the script and the character. For most of his outfits the top has been sewed by us, and the bottom has been a mix of man and machine made,” Aishwarya points out, adding that after sourcing the fabric, she had it stitched and had other embroidery works done to it to make the outfits look complete.
“All the detailing was backed by extensive research work. Thankfully, I have a great team that can stretch beyond the normal office hours,” she signs off.
