Sanjay Leela Bhansali‘s’ devdas’, by the lead role Shah Rukh KhanThe Aishwarya RaiThe Jackie Shroff And Madhuri Dixit, remains an iconic film that is loved for its big pictures, unforgettable dialogues, breathtaking dance numbers and wonderful suits. But not everything behind the camera was as polished as what the audience saw on the screen.Recently, fashion designer Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla revealed shocking stories behind the scenes from the film’s sets. The duo, who designed the film’s elaborate suits, shared their experiences during a performance on the Namrata Zakaria show on Youtube.
Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla remember Bollywood’s work style
When he looked back at his early years in the industry, Abu explained how tough things were for designers at that time. He remembered, “When I started working in the industry it was very unprofessional. The payments were late; Schedules were awful. The hero was the central character, and you had to be ready with the suit for the next sequence at the moment they were made. It got much better over time, but still it was a nightmare to work with devdas.“
Sanjay Leela Bhansali gave designers full creative freedom
However, Sandeep also shared how respected and encouraged they felt working with the director. He said, “For me, Sanjay Leela Bhansali is a genius. The beauty is that he gave me and Abu the utmost respect, and he gave us a free hand to create what we wanted for Madhuri, Jackie and Shah Rukh. Fortunately for us, we had the script tied, and we had already created all the clothes, but unfortunately his producer went to his produces to make his producers.“While they liked creative freedom, the producer’s unexpected arrest changed everything.
The producer’s arrest created financial fighters for designers
The shocking turn of events left the designers in front of serious fights. Sandeep revealed, “as a result of what happened, it was a nightmare to get money for our work. We were still in the middle of creating some garments; for example the” Dola Re “sequence was shot much later. Abu created that sketch, and some beautiful chicken equipment was made at the last minute, but no one returns because it got a national award.” Although the team had already prepared most costumes, it was a challenge to implement some key appearance when payments were delayed. Despite the financial chaos, these suits continued to obtain national recognition.
