Decoding Ranveer Singh’s Looks From RRKPK With Stylist Eka Lakhani

Any Karan Johar film is an excuse to wallow in both beauty and brands. The styling of his films have always produced a cascading effect, from the DKNY and Polo Sports of Shah Rukh Khan in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) to the high-slit kurtas of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016).

With Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani, stylist and costume designer Eka Lakhani worked on the outfits of Rocky Randhawa (Ranveer Singh), the loud, brash Delhi gym-boy, and the extended cast. In a conversation with Lakhani, edited for length and clarity, she decodes the various looks of Rocky, taking us through the thought process behind it.

Rocky is a character who goes through a heavy transformation through the film  — arguably the strongest transformation. How did you conceive of this transformation through his clothes? 

More than the transformation, we had to figure out who Rocky is as a character. He had a certain mindset. For Rocky it was clear that style is going to the DLF Emporio mall, buying branded clothes — Gucci, Prada, Fendi, etc.

If you look closely at the film, he has never worn pink till the last scene, with that rani pink mirror kurta by Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla, because according to him, men don’t wear pink. He had these notions drilled into his brain because of his family and the way he was brought up. That was a big transformation we wanted to show through clothes. In the end he wears pink, showing his complete transformation. 

The revealing nature of his t-shirts — low buttons, red underwear — gives way to more Chatterjee-appropriate styling. What are the various choices you had to make to make this change very clear? 
Rocky wears his buttons really low, open till his chest, when he is outside the house. But when he is at home, with his grandmother or father, he is in a t-shirt or bandhgala. That is the respect he has for elders at home. 

When you see him move to the Chatterjee’s he adapts, borrowing from their lifestyle. That is when we introduce kurtas, when he is learning kathak or when he is reciting a song at the culture club. We introduced these changes slowly into a film without making him a different character. He is still the guy who will wear his solitaire studs, with bright, happy colours. You still see him walking out in a ganji or Versace bathrobe. 

You could have gone with a simple kurta for the Dola Re Dola-Dhindora sequence. But that gorgeous, swirling Sabyasachi Angrakha was an androgynous statement. It is true royal kings used to wear it, but this is not a silhouette we see men wearing often these days. What were the discussions that went into finalising this silhouette? 

We were sure from the beginning that it was going to be in red. We did have a lot of scenes where we see him train in a kurta. We wanted this scene to have more drama than those riyaz scenes, which is why we thought we needed something “more”. We also realised this would be the outfit that would go on for a while — Dola Re Dola, Dhindora, the fight scene that comes after it, Rocky being back home, and finally, Rocky running to the hospital. You see the outfit for a long screen time, so it needed an extra flair. When he ran in it, we needed it to have the drama. I reached out to Sabyasachi Mukherjee and he specially designed it for Rocky and Chandan (Tota Roy Chowdhury). It is minimal but spectacular. 

What were the colour palettes, textures you were working with?  
Punam Randhawa (Kshitee Jog), Rocky’s mother, had a bahu-appropriate dressing, with a ghunghat on her head, and heavily embroidered salwar kameez. When it came to Gayatri Randhawa (Anjali Anand), Rocky’s sister, we kept her in oversized jumpers, hoodies, and skinny jeans. She was someone who was lovable, and at the same time, gullible. For Rocky’s father, Tijori Randhawa (Aamir Bashir) we wanted a very strict and stern look, and so we decided on bandhgalas.

With Alia’s mother, Anjali Chatterjee (Churni Ganguly) her vocabulary matched her style — these gorgeous handloom inspired saris with a lot of dhakais or Bengal cottons, statement pieces of jewellery. Then, there were Chandan’s gorgeous kurtas with hand embroidery dhaga kaam. We gave every character a lot of flavour. Through their dressing you could see who they are. 

You seemed to have taken a lot from the script, like the Rani pink mirror kurta in the last scene. Does the costume design feed into the writing or the other way round? Are there other examples of you taking a direct cue from the writing?

It happened both ways. We got a lot from the script, and while we were styling, Karan got a lot of ideas. The green Gucci blazer matching the car was accidental, but it allowed us to play around a little, with him matching the cars. The Rani Pink mirror kurta, specially designed for Rocky by Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla (they also designed a lime green kurta for him for the film) was, of course, his character coming full circle, dedicating the colour of his outfit to his girl, matching the car, baraat, the dhol. 

Even the protein shake bottle came from the script, seeing him as this masculine gym guy. Rocky is a full mood. From the very first song you realise that as soon as his family saw him perform, he changed into something more formal — more buttoned up and less into showing his body. This came from the script.

Is everything he wore branded — given his character, that Delhi boy who is dressed top to toe in designer? Any item of clothing that he specially got made for him?

Yes, everything he wore was branded. Typical Rocky. We got a lot made for him, but that was more (of) the kurtas for the Kathak, and this one special t-shirt he wears when he celebrates Alia’s birthday, with her face on it. 

Do his and Rani’s wardrobe ever coordinate except for the Dhindora and wedding sequence? Were you working off of each other's costume gradients?

No, Rani is more tasteful, while Rocky thinks brands are more fashionable.

Tell me about the wedding look — the ivory and emeralds.

The wedding look by Manish Malhotra was spectacular. It went beautifully with Rani’s rust orange lehenga. It looked lovely in Suryagarh, the location we shot the song in. 

What is your favorite look of his from the film? And what look took the longest to crack?

Rocky’s wardrobe is full of surprises. But a special look is what he wore during Rani’s introduction, when he walks in with his protein shake. It is special because it is the first look that shows us exactly who Rocky is. It is also (part of) the first few looks we cracked for him. 

The ‘Tum Kya Mile’ looks took the longest to crack, because these are more Rani’s visualisations of Rocky, and so we wanted Rocky to not be in his usual loud, colourful clothes.