Rajat Tangri chats with Divya Kaushik about designing for Sanjay leela Bhansali’s biopic on boxer Mary Kom to be played by Priyanka Chopra
We have seen Mary Kom’s glam avatar, making rounds at store openings and other launches. The boxer also walked the ramp for designers. But people who know her, say she is a simple person, who sometimes dresses traditionally, mostly she is in sporty outfits. Rajat Tangri researched on the boxer’s sense of fashion and what she wore as a kid for a film on the boxer. Priyanka Chopra will appear as Kom.
Tangri styled Kangna Ranaut for Shootout at Wadala and presented his Summer/Resort collection at lakme Fashion Week last month. Even then he did rounds of Kangathei, Mary’s hometown in Manipur. “I researched the weaves, craft, patterns and colours of the place. I also collected pictures of her childhood. I will not add glamorous just because it is a Bollywood film. The audience should know the reality.” He added that over 100 tribes exist in Manipur and Mary belongs to the Kom tribe.
“There use sarongs and cotton fabrics. Even their wools have cotton. Though they are tribes, whatever they wear is not in-your-face tribal, but contemporary in a sense. The tribe creates its own clothes and men mostly wear blacks and reds. Women prefer subtle tones like off-white. Each tribe uses certain symbols and create patterns around them. It has been an interesting study,” said Kom.
The film will be produced by Sanjay leela Bhansali and directed by Omung Kumar Bhandula.It will feature phases in the boxer’s life. Rajat is working on garments that will describe the transformation of Mary. “As a young girl, she mostly wore the traditional Phanek — a wrap around skirt with a top or a blouse. As she became an athlete, she preferred sporty outfits. Even today, when we think of Mary Kom, her image in a tee and tracks comes to our mind,” said Tangri.
The five-time world boxing champion has been lending her support to the project. “One thing that comes across is that she places comfort first and fashion is not something she looks at. She is cool, casual and very open.”