Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas, was an adaption of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s 1917 Bengali novel of the same name. The movie featured three of the most famous actors, including Shah Rukh as ‘Devdas’, Aishwarya Rai as ‘Paro’ and Madhuri Dixit as ‘Chandramukhi.’ While the movie is highly regarded as a cult classic, everyone who had been associated with the film bagged landmarks in their respective careers. The plot, acting mettle of the cast, and direction already got the acclaim it deserved, but along with it, the production design, costume design, and every aspect received special praise. It had received five National Film Awards in its name, and three of these honours were on other design aspects.
Neeta Lulla recalls a challenge she faced while preparing Aishwarya’s final saree on Devdas
The costume design section of Devdas was handed over to Neeta Lulla, Abu Jani, Sandeep Khosla, and Reza Sharriffi, and they did their job so perfectly that it brought them the National Award 2003 for the ‘Best Costume Design’ category. Recently, Neeta Lulla sat for an interview and shared a challenge that she faced while working on Devdas, mainly during a climax scene. Talking to News18, Neeta Lulla stated that she had made Aishwarya a white-red saree in a single night. Talking about the same, Neeta stated that the sarees on the film generally were 12-14 metres long, and for this, they had to join two sarees together to make one. Neeta Lulla can be quoted as saying:
“I had only overnight to create that look. The whole film featured saris that were 12–14 metres long. I had cut up two or three saris to create the entire ensemble. For the final scene, Sanjay felt he needed a cotton (Durga) Puja saree.”