'My sister will get very jealous when she sees the shoes'

Aki Narula and Kareena Kapoor hope Kambakkht Ishq will make a fashion statement

Location: Mehboob studio
Time: Early evening
Subject: Dressing up for Kambakkht Ishq with Kareena Kapoor and designer Aki Narula

THE wait stretches on to over an hour-and-a-half. Kareena Kapoor is being styled by designer Aki Narula for a magazine shoot. The actress has three changes to go. You imagine a long wait ahead. Surprisingly, Kareena takes 15-20 minutes for each change. Each shoot too takes just about that much time. The last change is a shocking red strapless knee-length dress, which Kareena ends up buying from Aki.

In Kambakkht Ishq, the usually blingy Bollywood seems have gone soft on glitter. Instead, one sees wearable chic in the form of short dresses. Kareena feels after Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Kambakkht Ishq is her most stylish film. "It's not in-your-face fashion. Even though it's a commercial potboiler masala film, our reference was the clothes should be non-filmi. Normally, an actress's costume tends to be over-the-top. But that's not what Aki has done here." What he has also not done is gone all out for brands like Gucci, Prada or Dolce & Gabbana. Instead, the designer sourced his clothes from different boutiques in Milan.

"It took me about 15 days to source the outfits at Milan. I went there mid-last year. I chose pieces keeping two things in mind u00e2u0080u0094 one, what would the colours and trends be in the summer of 2009 when the movie releases, and two, that it needed to have universal appeal."

He adds, "I deliberately stayed away from bling. Instead, I brought in new shapes and did a lot of colour blocking. For example, you will see Kareena in a yellow dress, with a blue clutch and red shoes... that's the latest trend now.

When a lot of mismatches come together, it becomes a style statement."

Kareena chips in, "The dresses I have worn are things most Hollywood actresses would wear. They're not tailored. We did not alter them to filmi tight fittings. Besides, gone are the days when you wore matching dress, shoes and accessories it's jaded. With Kambakkhtu00a0 Ishq, we have taken fashion a step further. The contrast is lovely. The young generation will associate with the colours."

Aki has used mostly pastel because they wanted to "keep the look as if it was actually worn in real life".



However, he does add, "We've used a lot of bright colours in Venice for a song. We used a stunning champagne dress with a beautiful back; I stuck to making Kareena look chic and sophisticated."

Kareena says, "Sex appeal that's what Indian actresses should have on-screen. The clothes are a mix of a little femininity and yet subtly sexy."

On experimenting, Aki says, "I used a trench coat and converted it into a skirt. I used the sleeves to tie it around the waist. Most of the dresses you will see are loose. When we were sourcing for clothes, it's very close to the script. I have just designed three or four pieces. Rest was sourced from Milan. There is a lot of emphasis of accessories. There are some crazy bangles. And we have used over 52 pairs of shoes in the film... it will go down in the history of Indian films as the highest heels ever worn. Kareena has been running around on the cobbled streets of Venice in six inch heals. Of course, we had back-ups of flats in case it was close shoots. Kareena is absolutely my muse."

Kareena chips in, "The most amazing were the shoes. Each was more spectacular than the other." To how many of those she bought for herself, she laughs, "Actually none. I can't walk in those high heels. No way. My personal collection of shoes is quite nice. I always pick up nice ones. But these shoes are going to be the most noticeable in the film. My sister will get jealous when she sees the shoes. They're more her."

But where does her character of a surgeon and a supermodel rolled into one fit in? Kareena justifies, "When she is in the hospital she wears scrubs. When she is out, she is a glamourous girl because she is a supermodel. So she dresses accordingly."

And the black swimwear? Kareena laughs, "It's not a bikini... it's a swim suit. We bought it from Italy. It's not like the two-piece that I wore in Tashan because it was the beginning of a song sequence and we had to make the heroine look sexy. In this film, the one-piece Prada swimsuit is in a scene. Tastefully and subtly shot."

Aki joins in, "Ya, it's a Prada swimsuit and she is in high heels." And laughs a bit louder when asked if it's going to be as shocking as John Abraham's Dostana swimming trunks. "I hope it creates a buzz," he says. "But that was a different kind of a shot," laughs Kareena.