BACKSTAGE PASS

FILM: Main Aur Charles

Fashion designer Salim Asgarally doesn’t normally agree to do costumes for films, but transforming Bollywood actor Randeep Hooda into Charles Sobhraj, the Bikini Killer of the 1970s, was an irresistible lure. Charles, who was convicted and jailed for 12 murders between 1976 and 1997, and is currently serving a sentence of life imprisonment in Nepal, was a dapper dresser.

“He is an intriguing character whose journey spans different eras. I was ready for the challenge that Prawaal Raman’s film, Main Aur Charles, offered,” explains Salim. Three months of intensive research yielded several different looks to experiment with.

Charles moves from Bangkok to Delhi and on to Mumbai and Goa with a tenure in the Tihar jail in between. Salim promises a new look for the con man in every city.

“In Bangkok, he’s urbane in trench coats, which make way for suits and blazers in subdued checks teamed with’70s style ties, his trademark beret and designer glasses when he’s trying to pass himself off as a moneyed gentleman in Delhi,” explains the stylist. Salim points out that even when he was jailed, till he was convicted, Charles was allowed to throw Christmas parties, give interviews to the international press and wear his own clothes.

“So, among the prison uniforms was this intelligent, widely travelled, conman with a suave front. The continuity had to be retained even when he fled to Mumbai after a daring jail break. But once in Goa, he turns into a carefree hippie in swimming trunks and shorts,” says Salam, who wanted the clothes to become an aid in storytelling while making Randeep look good on screen.

Usually Hindi films don’t bother with authentic depiction of period styles or the colour palette, but for Salim they were the basic parameters. When designing for Charles, he stuck to muted hues like sky blues, coffee browns and olive green.

And to ensure that everything was in sync, he ordered vintage frames and borrowed costumes from Nepal’s royalty. The ‘Main’ in the title is Amod Kant, the investigating officer on the case, whose observations the film is based on.

Adil Hussain, who plays the character, is mostly seen in his cop’s uniform, but when with the family, he’s a typical middle-class civilian in trousers and bush shirts, a distinct contrast to the flashy Charles.

There are other characters too, like Richard Thomas, the British hitchhiker Charles meets, whom Salim dressed up in casual denims, and Mira, the Delhi law student, who Richa Chadha brings to life on screen. Mira is togged up in Indo- Western wear and junk jewellery from the Janpath market. Smiles Salim, “Main Aur Charles wasn’t an easy film, but it was a satisfying project.”

source: http://www.punemirror.in / Pune Mirror / Home> Others> Leisure / by Roshmila Bhattacharya / July 06th, 2014