Bhanu Athaiya keeps Manish Malhotra waiting

While Manish Malhotra's grand show on the opening day of the Lakme Fashion Week was one that will be remembered for years owing to a stunning collection inspired by different eras of the Hindi film industry and the presence of a bevy of celebrities from Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap, Varun Chawan, Siddharth Malhotra and Priyanka Chopra who walked the ramp to a full occupancy of the first row by the likes of Kajol, Asha Bhosle and Karishma Kapoor among others, not many know that the designer went into panic mode before the show started.

Malhotra had also invited Bhanu Athaiya for his show, but the Oscar-winning costume designer failed to reach even after a delay of 45 minutes. It was then that a visibly tense Malhotra came to out the main show area from back stage to enquire about her arrival and was heard telling friends, "I am waiting for Bhanu Athaiya, I cant start the show without her. She is iconic."

The wait paid off, and as soon as the iconic designer arrived, the show began. At the end of the show, Priyanka Chopra spoke about the glory of Indian cinema and invited Bhanu Athaiya, Hema Asha Bhosle on the ramp, who in her inimitable humorous manner confessed her long pending desire to model and brought the house down when she walked the ramp to a thunderous standing ovation from the packed hall. It was a show full of high-octane glitz and glamour as well as Bollywood dazzle for the audience, who were taken on a nostalgic journey through a century of Bollywood fashion history seen through the eyes of Malhotra.