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| Edited By: Manish D Mishra |Source: DNA |Updated: Nov 03, 2017, 08:40 PM IST
Stylist Rick Roy has been eclipsing the Bollywood styling scene with an undying dedication to his craft and vision film after film. From making Malaika Arora look sensational in the hit item song Munni from Dabangg to giving a period, multi-layered look to Vidya Balan in Begum Jaan — he has proved that he stays true to the character, plot-line and his director’s vision. With Tumhari Sulu, he presents Vidya Balan in a new avatar while staying fiercely loyal to her persona in the film.
He shares, “It was extremely challenging for me as I have never been perceived as a stylist, who does realistic clothing. We get tagged into a certain kind of bracket and for me to break out of that mould was important. Having said that, it was crucial to be true to the character. With big commercial films, you can make a glam statement but Sulu is rooted in the middle class reality. When you see the rushes for the first time, you notice Vidya’s character and not the clothes but when you give her a second look, clothes have a certain style.” Rick is happy with the way the imagery of the film has turned out.
“When we are friends, we are friends. Work-wise, we are different and extremely professional. We keep our personal equation and friendship away and nothing gets dragged into the work. Vidya is very non-interfering, it was comfortable working with her and it was amazing to see her transformation. You can’t help but notice how she drapes the sari in the house and the way she wears it outside. Vidya always gives me complete freedom to do what I want. She believes that I know my job, I have a great equation with the director. She never questions anything. I don’t care about who you are on the set. For me you are a character, I don’t care about your personal style. If you are a beggar, I’ll dress you like a beggar. I design clothes and looks based on the character and the brief. Sulu and Maria (essayed by Neha Dhupia) come from very different worlds and there’s no relatability. When they meet, you see the disparity of characters which comes through clothing.”
The high-point of styling “People always underplay the style and pick up random clothes because no one notices. I wanted Sulu to have a sense of style. I wanted a specific look for the film. At one point during the sourcing, I was getting frustrated with the stuff available. Because even when you pick fabrics from stores, people have seen it. We started picking up dupattas, table cloths. It all looks real when she wears it. I didn’t want people to tag brands while watching the film. All the saris were made, which suited her and worked for that character. When I saw Vidya trying out the saris, I told my assistant, ‘I think we’ve nailed it.’ Also, getting that appreciation from director Suresh Triveni was amazing. He lives, breathes and eats Sulu. Suresh was excited to see the saris which made me very happy. It was literally a no make-up look. When she’s out she’s wearing a bindi and when she’s in she’s not. All in all, it’s the magic of Vidya and Suresh. When we were brainstorming over her looks, I asked how much her husband earns and how much money she needs to run the house and everything had to be made within that budget — be it clothing or accessories. I gave her nifty minakari jhumkis. We also made a simple mangal sutra which sometimes shows or it’s hidden in the pallu.
“In the last six months most low-budget films have done well and it shows that Bollywood has space for all kinds of cinema — be it Shubh Mangal Saavdhan or Bareilly Ki Barfi. It’s an exciting space to be in right now and as a stylist it’s very creatively stimulating. We’ve reached a point where we’ve broken a barrier of what works and what doesn’t. There’s Tumhari Sulu and there’s also Padmavati. This film has opened me to a new category of films. It’s great for my career too. I have done an item number, I have also done a period film like Begum Jaan and a middle class-centric film Tumhari Sulu.”
“I dream of working with characters, I don’t dream of working with actors. It’s the character which excites me, not an actor. For red carpet, it’s different. When you give me an actor for a film, I don’t see who the star is. If an actor forgets who he is and comes as a character and lets go of his stardom, it’s amazing. For example how Ranbir Kapoor was in Barfi. I look forward to working with directors who’ll give me interesting characters. I’d love to work with Kabir Khan. I keep telling him that if he doesn’t work with me soon, I’d do a dharna outside his house. I would also want to work with Suresh again (if he doesn’t cast me, I’d be very upset).”
