Inside the world of Ashley Rebello: How costumes shape emotion in cinema

“When I first heard the story of Haq, I was told it wasn’t just based on Shah Bano—it was inspired by many women who have fought for their rights,” begins Ashley Rebello. “I had to keep Yami Gautam’s character strong, yet show her first as a beautiful Muslim woman whose world revolves around her husband and children. And when her world falls apart, her look had to reflect that heartbreak.”

For Rebello, everything begins with research. “Once I get the script, I sit with the story and then start working on fabrics and what the person would be like. I went to Lucknow, to Hyderabad—Muslim-centric areas—to study how women carry their dupattas, how they move, what they wear. Girls who are Muslim from childhood just know how to wear their dupatta. They don’t pin it; it’s instinct. I wanted that authenticity.”

Every costume in Haq was stitched, not store-bought. “Whether it was Emraan Hashmi, Yami Gautam, or Vartika Singh—everyone’s clothes were tailored. I don’t see that much today. Designers just pick things off racks and fit them to actors. But if a character is poor and tailoring her clothes at home, how can she suddenly be wearing designer brands? It doesn’t make sense.”

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Ashley laughs as he recalls how deeply personal his inspiration was. “I actually designed Yami’s clothes keeping my mother in mind. Her elegance, her style. My mom was my idol—every Sunday she’d recycle her saris, cut the pallu, add fabric, make it look new. People in church would wait to see what Aunty Greta was wearing! So when Yami’s mother saw the film and told her, ‘You’ve never looked more beautiful,’ I said, Yami, that’s the best compliment your mom could ever give me.”

He’s old-school about process. “After sketches and fabric samples, I show everything to the director. Then we make prototypes—young look, older look, pregnancy look. We do full hair and makeup, call a photographer, shoot the look test, and finalize everything. Emraan’s pathanis and kurtas had to be authentic—down to the chuski shoes that make that ‘kach kach’ sound when you walk!”

For him, authenticity means care. “Emraan loved the kurtas so much he asked for some for his father. He told me, ‘I’ve never played a Muslim character like this.’ That’s what makes it special—when actors trust you completely. Tabu’s like that too. She never asks questions—just trusts you blindly. That’s a true star.”

Convincing others, he admits, can be tricky. “Sometimes actors don’t get it. They want to look glamorous even when the character doesn’t call for it. I tell them, just trust me. When they see the final result, they always come back and say, ‘You were right.’”

Rebello’s attention to detail borders on obsessive. “I even gave Yami a handkerchief because in those days women carried them. And one reviewer wrote, ‘It was so nice to see her carrying a handkerchief—it reminded me of my mother.’ That made me so happy. It meant people noticed.”

He’s seen the evolution of costume design firsthand. “Earlier, we had limited resources, so we were more creative. Now, at a click, you can order stones or feathers. But I still dye my fabrics myself, screen-print them, get new colors made. Every shade you see in Haq was specially created. My team worked so hard—it’s one of my best works.”

Ask him about timeless style, and he smiles. “When Aishwarya went for Miss World, I gave her different saris for breakfast every morning, each with matching bangles and bindis. She told me everyone would wait to see what she wore next. That’s what effort does—it shows. You have to think ahead, create trends.”

He recalls dressing Tabu for Chandni Bar, undoing her glamorous look completely. “People said, ‘What did you do?’ I said, ‘Made Tabu look real.’ Costume design is about memories—it’s about truth. It’s not styling. It’s storytelling through clothes.”

And when asked which celebrities truly understand style? “Saif, Sonali Bendre, Sushmita Sen, Raveena—they’re always impeccably turned out. Sonakshi once told me, ‘When everyone was wearing bikinis, you dressed me from head to toe and made me who I am.’ That, to me, is real style. It’s not about how much you expose. It’s about what you wear and how you carry it.”

He pauses, smiles. “At the end of the day, all I want is for people to look at a film and feel — yes, this is real. That’s costume design. It’s emotion stitched into fabric.”