'Fashion changing in Bollywood, connecting with people'

New Delhi, Sep 15 Nowadays actors are not dressed to look good on screen, but are styled to make the common people connect with their characters, says a young designer whose work in movies like 'Dev D', 'Gulal' and 'That Girl In Yellow Boots' (TGIYB) has been much appreciated.

'I believe fashion is changing in Bollywood. Earlier in movies, the aim was to make actors wear the best possible and most fashionable clothes to make them look nice on screen. Not enough care was taken to go into their characters,' Shubhra Gupta told IANS.

'But I guess over time, with movies like 'Dev D', 'Gulaal', 'Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!' and 'Shaitan', clothes have got some reality to go with it.

'With cinema changing its course, the need to connect with people has become much more prominent than to show them the glamorous side. I guess the realistic approach has come in now where a layman can feel or identify with the character through clothes,' she added.

Her projects vary from Luv Ranjan's youngster drama 'Pyaar Ka Punchnama' to Ram Gopal Varma's gory real life story 'Rakthcharitra' to Abhishek Pathak's national award-winning short film 'Boondh' to Rahul Dholakia's social satire 'Society'.

She designed for Rajkumar Gupta's 'Aamir' and got a nomination for the Filmfare awards.

Unlike earlier, costume designers now get due recognition for their contribution to movies, said Gupta.

'It has completely changed. I have seen lately even if the movie doesn't do well, and if the work of a designer is good, it is appreciated. So in the current scenario, critics appreciate the hard work of technicians.'

However, in Bollywood brand names like Manish Malhotra and Vikram Phadnis still get preference over young ones, she said, adding, 'Sometimes young designers are not given full freedom to work on their creativity unless it is an already established brand.

'Of course, a good name is always an addition to talent, but also it's true that some people only go by that name.'

Gupta has done the maximum projects with Anurag Kashyap, who is known to give opportunities to newcomers.

'My work with Anurag Kashyap has got me a certain respect for my creativity. He gives total freedom to all his technicians to explore and create. I have worked with him for movies like 'Dev D' and 'Gulaal'. I guess his conviction in me and my hard work made him offer me 'TGIYB' too,' she added.

The designer, who worked with known designer Narendra Kumar Ahemad, before joining Bollywood, is NIFT graduate and is currently working on an Indo-German project.

'I am working on two projects. One is a Bollywood project which will be officially announced in November and the second is an Indo-German project, which is still under development,' she said.

Shubhra recently launched her label ShubhraGuptaSharma.