Why Are Bollywood Fashion Styles So Popular?

 

India: Not just a sari.

 

The Bollywood industry, the influence of globalization and foreign markets have made India an example of how tradition and modernity give rise to a unique reinvention in the world of fashion.

The names of Shahrukh Khan or Manish Malhotra are not very well known in a country like Colombia, but the facts around the world speak otherwise: The former is the king of the multi-million dollar Indian film industry, Bollywood, which has more viewers and films than its American counterpart could produce. With a salary higher than that of any president on the American continent, Shahrukh Khan, by Western standards, would not fit the stereotype of a sex symbol , or even a fashion symbol . But in the country of a hundred nations and languages, a thousand religions and two million gods, as Mark Twain would say, this actor, producer and dancer is the epitome of masculine elegance.

The same can be said of Manish Malhotra in the field of fashion design. The Indian couturier is the one who has adorned the most representative actresses of this industry, headed by the most famous Indian beauty in the western world, Aishwarya Rai, and who has made the clothing and traditional crafts of this country, one of the richest and most complex in the world, a contemporary, versatile and attractive proposal for fashionistas around the world.

Malhotra and Khan represent what India is today in terms of fashion, image and style: an exquisite combination of modernity and tradition. The most representative elements of the identity of this country with thousands of years of history, are combined with all the elements of the fashion system and the star system of the West to recreate, in their own way, their own vision as an industry.

 That is to say, India is one of the few countries with a cultural industry, just like the countries of East Asia, which knew how to take advantage of everything that the West offered, and did it in its own way: respecting tradition, but giving it a new air. India has the luxury of having its own awards in the industry, such as Filmfare, its own magazines, and also its own edition of Vogue Magazine in a male and female version. Its own fashion events, such as Lakmé Fashion Week . At this event, great talents dazzle by their reinvention of their native garments, giving them an avant-garde and elegant touch ( the new talents of Lakme Fashion Week, here ).

Manish Malhotra reinvents the sari and traditional outfits by giving them new silhouettes and colours.

Manish Malhotra, among other designers, have made the sari, the representative garment of women in India, the salwar kameez   and kurti (see below for the glossary of Indian garments), have been covered in other variations.

Indo-Western Style

Young women in India do not all wear sari, and designers like Anita Dongre  , Isha and Nitin Kartikeya  , among many others, have created beautiful variations for every occasion. The salwar kameez , the traditional unisex ensemble of Hindustani countries, has been given new forms through Indo Western design. Halter necks and other Western designs are common on the top, as well as the length of the garment. Western cuts are imprinted on traditional garments, and in some designs by designers, Western clothes are reworked with Indian patterns or textures.

    

A dress with Indian embroidery patterns by Isha and Inti Kartikeya and a golden Indo-Western style tunic are proof that India creatively combines its stylistic tradition with Western models.

Of course, this goes beyond “ethnic,” a very simplistic term used in the West to define the characteristics of any culture that goes beyond the fashion system of the big cities. India is a country with a deep-rooted cultural tradition, which has done a good business on the Internet with its fashion proposals. On the web, on sites like CBBazar   or Goodbells  and in Anglo-Saxon countries (good recipients of Indian immigrants in the past) you can find a good kurti with leggings, or a suede one with innovative silhouettes. Even cholis   with contemporary prints, which were in vogue a while ago.

The charm of Bollywood

Aishwarya Rai as the courtesan Umrao Jaan (2006)

Talking about Bollywood is different from talking about India as a whole, but rather about what it represents. Because Bollywood, although it sells an idyllic image of the country in its films, it is obvious that what is heard and seen is different. The educated Western viewer was barely able to cope with the harshness of   Slumdog Millionaire , to say the least. They know that India is a country of contrasts, a country with a growing middle class that obviously, like all countries, is far from the most avant-garde of the fashion system, and that continues to dress in traditional styles, or with what the design for large stores can offer. But Bollywood is not there to show that.

Bollywood, in fashion, is like Vogue Magazine: The brand where aspiration is at its highest, where objects of desire, at their highest status, are a reality. In the case of Bollywood, we can see two variants: The growing adaptation to the Western fashion system, especially in its films of daily life and action (where the most interesting proposals are seen, such as the famous 'Dhoom'), and the ostentation, in all its splendor, of the Indian. The saris, the kurtis, here are not just clothes that women wear. In the films they give a concept of fable, of legend, of the fantasy that they want to project.

This is very common in the 'Massala' genre films, where the choreographies, famous for their complexity and length, are combined, and where reality is also placed with fantasy. It is also common in the films that have served to tell the history of India, such as the famous  Yoda Akbar (2007) , which tells the story of the emperor who ordered the construction of the Taj Mahal, (starring Aishwarya Rai and Hrtihkh Roshan), or its customs, still so deeply rooted, such as the multi-award winning and very famous  Devdas (2002). I would like to delve into this last film, as it is an example, especially in its set design and costumes (and photography), of what Bollywood has done with fashion and identity.

Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai in 'Devdas' (2002)

In the central choreography, the courtesan Chandramukni (Madhuri Dixit) and the wealthy woman Paro (Aishwarya Rai) dance together after meeting and becoming friends. They have in common the man they love, Devdas (Shahrukh Khan). They both wear the same clothes, despite their differences in social class. The ostentation and elaboration of the hair styles, saris, and jewelry are identical for the courtesan and the wealthy woman. Throughout the film, although Madhuri Dixit is a high-class courtesan, her saris are as fine as Rai's, and they also proudly display, above all, her status as dignified women, despite the patriarchal hierarchy. The saris here give them an identity, that of Indian women (even if multiple today), which is defined by tradition. This happens in many films, where the finely crafted costumes, always interpreted in a different way, give the Indian woman in Bollywood a complement to her beauty, her own definition, which has always characterized her in her culture.

The same is not true for men, although it is lovely to see them in their traditional costumes. When a woman in a modern story or an action story shows her sensuality or her power in a Western, rather commercial way, men are empowered by both the modern representation and the one that tells the story of their identity. Aamir Khan did the same with The Ballad of Mangal Pandey, in his red jacket, telling the story of the rebel sepoy, executed by the English, and also in Lagaan, where the dirty peasant look, almost made of patchwork, contrasted with the traditional English image of the colonial period. In modern times, there are many examples: in the three parts of Dhoom, men confirm and affirm all their masculinity; in Ra One, Shahrukh Khan tries to get in tune with the futuristic and sober aesthetic of the superhero. Women can be power, but they are sensuality, men are always power. Although there are exceptions, of course.

Shahrukh Khan in 'Ra One' (2011)

Bollywood knew how to impose itself with identity. It rescued everything that made India attractive, not only for Westerners in the 60s, but for all cultures, and told it in multiple ways, always having its story of the country as a guide. And visually and stylistically, especially in fashion, it created an example of style from tradition. Likewise, it had the ability to blend in with a country that had just gained independence and became an emerging power, establishing its own system in a unique way.

For all these reasons, India is a country that has made its fashion system a proposal for those who dare to explore other cultures and create individual and collective styles that go beyond a sari, a cliché, but at the same time the most powerful symbol of a nation that knew how to reinterpret it for the new times and for itself.

A GLOSSARY TO LEARN ABOUT INDIAN FASHION

Salwaar Kameez: This is a unisex set of trousers and a long shirt. The salwar is a loose-fitting pair of trousers, and the legs are wide at the top, although styles vary. The kameez is a long, tunic-like shirt that reaches mid-thigh. Women wear this outfit with a dupatta, or veil around the neck.

Actress Rani Mukherjee in a traditional version of the Salwar Kameez

Sari: The traditional dress worn by women in the Indian subcontinent.

Saris, by Manish Malhotra

 

Choli: It is a blouse with an open neck and semi-open back, which goes above the navel. It also comes in various variants.

Lehenga: Long, flowing skirt, but made of various materials, which accompanies the choli as a whole.

Couture Choli and Lehenga by Ghagra Choli.

Kurti : A female tunic that covers the thigh and is also accompanied by a dupatta.   It also comes in several variants, especially in the Indo-Western style.

 

Sherwani: It looks like a long coat, but it is not. It is a suit that characterizes the Muslim and Indian aristocracy. It is the national Pakistani male costume. Its Indian variant is the Achkan.

Saif Ali Khan in a sherwani for the film 'Kal Hoo Na Hoo'

 

Kurta: This is the male version of the kurti. Simpler, wider and more sober lines. An everyday suit.