Costume drama(Rati agnihotri)

Rati Agnihotri refused the offer of a professional costume designer. Now her body-hugging golden costume has come under flak

Rati Agnihotri's outfit in the first episode of Jhhalak Dikhla Jaa has not gone down well with people. If the grapevine is to be believed, some of the participants and the designers are appalled by the costumes she has worn in Jhhalak Dikhla Jaa. Designers have said that her dresses have odd colours. Besides, they are body-hugging, which made her look overweight.

Incidentally, all the participants were given the option of having professional costume designers do their clothes for them, but Rati declined the offer. She said she would use her own designer, Sapna, who works with her in all her projects. Unfortunately, the costumes have bombed.

When contacted, Rati appeared blissfully ignorant of the whispers about her costumes. In fact, she sounded surprised that no one had come forward to tell her about her costumes, directly. "No one has complained to me about my costumes. I guess, keeping in mind my seniority, people are not criticising my costumes directly. But, people cannot expect me to wear revealing clothes. I cannot dress like the other young girls, I need to dress according to my age," she said.

"I am pretty open to criticism," she added. "I do not know how others feel, but I am happy with my costumes since they are really comfortable to wear and dance in. I am very happy with Sapna's work who, although not a professional, is my full-time designer."

Rati also explained why her golden costume was different from the other contestants' costumes. "I danced to a song that belongs to the '60s. It was a Shammi Kapoor song and the costume that I wore was apt for it. Sapna designed the costume keeping the song in mind. I felt it went down pretty well with the song. It is an old-fashioned song and even my hairstyle was old-fashioned. More importantly, the songs were given to us by the channel; we are not free to choose our own songs," she said.

The actress added, "People who are making negative comments about my costumes should realise that most of the contestants are in their 20s and 30s, while I am 45 years old – and still participating in a dance show. Although I am doing films now, the last time I danced was way back in 1985, in Tawaif."

All criticism notwithstanding, the actress is very excited about dancing after so many years. Now she is preparing for a contemporary peppy song for the next round. Of course, she refuses to reveal the song.