Ritu designs for son’s eco-thriller

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Renowned Delhi-based designer Ritu Kumar, who is famous for her exquisite usage of handicrafts and textiles in ensembles, has taken the eco-route for her son Ashvin Kumar’s upcoming movie The Forest. The veteran designer has designed costumes for the movie, which stars Nandana Sen, Javed Jaffery and Ankur Vikal.

The designer claims that this is a first-of-its-kind movie made in India, which can be called an “ecological-thriller.” She says, “It is the story of a young couple from Delhi who go to Jim Corbett and they encounter a man-eating leopard. The costumes were based more on an environment-friendly locale and I’ve tried to keep them in sync with the movie’s script. Nandana has donned solid-coloured tees, khaki jeans, a safari jacket, khaki jodhpurs and khakhi hat with a twist. The husband’s outfits were done by Burberry, London. The look depicts an urban chic couple visiting the forest in designer wear.”
Since Ritu’s forte is subtle usage of handlooms and indigenous crafts, she tried to fuse it with the theme of the story in some scenes. She says, “The forest officers wore a fusion of casual woolen dressing, and there are organic clothes like a poncho made of Garhwal blankets that has embroidery and craftwork from that area.”
Ritu has just finished working on Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children. She says, “I used to sit with Deepa and we would brainstorm about the look of the characters and their costumes. Since it is a period film, I designed outfits keeping in mind the look of that era.”
Speaking about Amrish’s movie The Little Terrorist, Ritu reveals that she travelled to Kutch with her art director and infused the traditional arts and crafts in the costumes for that movie.
Asked about how she balances work and personal relations with her son on the sets, she replies, “Once the professionalism sets in, it is easy to work. I know he is my director at the set and I take criticism from him or the art director when there is something that needs to be changed or reworked. I believe in movies clothes also speak a language of their own, so it is important that they suit the theme and context of the movie.”
Ritu also feels that over the past 20 years there has been a marked improvement in the quality of costume designing in Hindi films. She says, “Costumes depend on the script and background of the movie, and I feel in the past few years the quality of clothes used in films has improved a lot. Some filmmakers use outfits that are little off the subject, but by and large there is a positive change. We have better designers and stylists in the film industry who are doing good work.”