Fabric for Jethalal’s costumes comes from Italy: Crores are spent on clothes alone in TV shows; there are thousands of clothes on the set

We often talk about the grandeur of Indian television serials. Expensive sets, famous starcast, engaging scripts and heavy costumes. Most of the show’s budget is spent on costumes. What the actors will wear in the show is decided by the show’s director, creative director and people associated with the channel. They hire costume designers for this. Costume designers are on board, then they are given a brief about the characters of the show. According to that brief, costume designers prepare clothes for each character. In this week’s Reel to Real, we talked about costume selection, challenges, budget and the role of designers in TV serials. For this, we visited many locations including the set of the serial ‘Krishna Mohini’. Costume designer Partho Ghoshal, who was present there, told us some interesting things. Partho said that usually more than Rs 10 lakh is spent every month on costumes in a TV show. Since the shows run for a long time, their budget goes into crores. Apart from this, we also talked to costume designer Jeetu Lakhani who designs clothes for famous TV character Jethalal (Dilip Joshi). He told that the raw material for the clothes of Jethalal, who looks ordinary on screen, is procured from Italy. People also order clothes like Jethalal’s. Jethalal’s clothes have never been repeated in 16 years. We reached designer Jeetu Lakhani’s store in Borivali, Mumbai. Here, clothes of the famous character Jethalal of Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah are designed. Jeetu Lakhani has been making clothes for Jethalal i.e. Dilip Joshi for almost 16 years. Not a single dress of Jethalal has been repeated in these 16 years. Those clothes look ordinary, but its fabric is procured from Italy. Jeetu Lakhani’s younger brother Rohit Lakhani said that people from the country and abroad call him and give orders to make clothes like Jethalal. Lakhs of rupees are spent on costumes Partho told that the production team spends more than 10 lakhs on the costume department every month. Most of the money is spent on lehengas. Approximately 40 to 50 thousand rupees are spent on making a lehenga. Whereas up to 15 thousand rupees can be spent on the lead hero’s suit. Up to 10 thousand rupees are spent on a normal shirt-pant or ladies salwar-suit. Thousands of clothes are kept on the set Partho Ghoshal told that the costume designer gets very little time to make clothes. Sometimes he is asked to prepare clothes in just one day. Partho took us to a room. There were about 3 thousand clothes kept there. He told that all these clothes are kept for the actors to wear. Apart from clothes, shoes and jewellery were also kept. During the shooting, clothes and shoes are taken out from here and delivered to the artists. Full attention is given to the maintenance of clothes Special attention is also given to the maintenance of clothes. Once or twice a month, they are taken out and sent for laundry. Some clothes cannot be washed again and again, so they are steamed so that they look new and fresh. Some dresses are gaudy only from outside, but are soft from inside. You must have often seen that artists are seen wearing very heavy dresses in TV serials. Especially female artists are seen in these getups. However, they are not as heavy in reality as they look. Very light and comfortable clothes are used to make them. We asked Partha how he convinces the actors to wear heavy clothes? In response, he said, ‘Wedding scenes are definitely filmed in every function. In this, female artists are especially seen in lehenga. These lehengas are heavy. In this condition, we use light fabric for lehenga or saree, so that there is no problem in wearing it.’ Sometimes clothes turn out to be loose or tight at the last moment. Sometimes it happens that clothes become loose or tight during shooting, in such a case they are immediately altered with the help of a tailor. Actress Debatma of the TV serial ‘Krishna Mohini’ said, ‘Sometimes the clothes given to us do not fit. They have to be changed at the last moment.’ The director of the show gives a brief to the costume designer about each character. What is the first process of preparing clothes for the characters of a TV show? Partha said, ‘First we are given a brief about all the characters by the director of the show. Then we sit with the writer with the script. Now suppose there is a character in the show who is not financially capable or we can say that he is shown as poor in the show. In such a case, two-three things have to be kept in mind while designing his dress. First, make that dress in such a way that it does not look new. There should not be many signs in it. The weaving should be such that it seems that the cloth is very old as soon as one looks at it.’ Making costumes for religious and mythological TV shows is the most challenging. Partho said that making clothes for actors in mythological shows is the most challenging. A lot of detailing has to be done. Since the matter is related to religion, a lot of research is done on the character first. A study is also done. If a show is being made on Lord Vishnu, then we have to first research about his look. There is a long discussion with the director of the show on which dress will suit his character. In shows whose theme is middle class, the characters are shown in repeated clothes. Do characters repeat clothes in TV shows? Partho said, ‘In shows where the story of a middle class family is shown, clothes are repeated. This is so that the audience finds the show relatable. On the other hand, in shows where a little royalty is shown, the chances of repeating clothes are very less. Sometimes after 50 episodes, we show minor characters again in old clothes. As a costume designer, I avoid repeating dresses in my shows. This is so that I can show my creativity as much as possible. If a scene is shot for many days, then repeating clothes becomes a necessity. Does the production team ever instruct to repeat clothes? Partha says that the production house never instructs to repeat clothes again and again. This happens only when a scene is telecasted continuously for 3-4 days. For example, in a scene it is shown that a person is going from village to city and it takes him many days for this journey, in this condition the actor has to be shown in the same clothes. In this situation, we keep 2-3 clothes of the same kind in backup, so that there is no problem of any kind. Actors sometimes deliberately trouble the designer. Sometimes it happens that the clothes etc. are all right, but the actors deliberately create problems. They also create a lot of drama regarding wearing clothes. Partha said, ‘This has happened to me twice. There is a top actress, I will not take her name. She has tried to harass me every time. The dresses were in good condition, yet to harass me, she would falsely accuse me that the clothes were not right. Due to this, the shooting would also get delayed. Has it ever happened that the production house did not pay after work? Partha said, ‘Yes, one incident has happened. There was a show on ZEE channel. The production team of the show did not pay our team including the actors after the work was over. Then I lodged a complaint with our association, which helped a lot. After this, nothing like this has happened to me till now.’ Earlier in the TV industry, actors used to work on their clothes and look themselves. We asked famous TV actress Sudha Chandran a question about costume and styling. In response, she said, ‘When I did my first TV show, at that time we did not get stylists etc. We used to do our own makeup. Even clothes had to be arranged from here and there.’ Some producers are very interested in costume designing. One of them is JD Majethia. JD Majethia, who has made famous TV shows like Wagle Ki Duniya, said that unlike other producers, he also shows proper interest in costume designing. Graphics – Vipul Sharma

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