How do you like wearing your sari?

Besides wearing a sari the usual way, I like going the traditional way... the aatpoure style, the way our grandmothers used to wear it. Thanks to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas, where he has shown how you can do the sari in pleats and yet wear it in the traditional way. It makes walking very comfortable, compared to the authentic traditional style. Especially for people who don’t wear saris that often or are surprised when they see me in a sari in almost every occasion, for them, too, that way of wearing a sari can be very helpful. Films have always been a spokesperson for fashion and during Durga Puja, people try and follow trends.

What I hate is overstyling the sari, like wearing it with pants or leggings or with a belt. I feel a severe repulsion when I see a sari with a belt. I like wearing a sari with a regular petticoat. You can wear a sari with a tee instead of a regular blouse, or do the pallu and the pleats in a different way.

Did you ever follow any reel-to-real fashion trends after watching a movie?

Yes! I remember Madhuri Dixit’s slit salwar kameez and Kajol’s Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya salwar-with-a-jacket trend was everywhere. I had also got two made like that. (Laughs)

Back home for the Pujas, having wrapped up her film shoots, we caught Swastika Mukherjee in a relaxed mood on a Monday afternoon. “It’s heartbreaking for me to not be in the city during this time. Yesterday when I was coming back from Pondicherry, I saw the pandals being decorated, and the smell in the air, the lights on the road, the sun and the sky… there is immense positivity and a feel of celebration all around and that is something that I don’t want to miss,” she says, while getting ready at AltAir Boutique Hotel for the t2 Puja special photoshoot. The Asamapto actress is going back to saris this Puja like always, picking traditional weaves with a modern touch. Swastika tells t2 about her festive fashion do and don’t.

You wear a sari like it’s your second skin. What kind of saris do you love? What would we see you wearing during the day, for an event in the evening and at night?

For Durga Puja, it will be Jamdani, handloom and Dhonekhali saris because of the weather. In October we are still sweating, so I can’t think of leaving my house in a very heavy silk or anything that is not cotton or a non-airy fabric. Also, Dhonekhali is now so much in the fashion space that I feel good that it is coming back and people are not associating a social status with it anymore. It is also a good feeling that Bengal weaves and handlooms are getting so much prominence. The problem with Tangail and Dhonekhali saris is that these saris look a little billowy when you wear them, so before wearing one I used to ask my mother to wear it a whole day so that it became softer and easy to manage for me (smiles).

My go-to sari fabric for the day will be cotton... Telia cottons. For evening, it would be crepe or jute cotton with a little bit of embroidery but definitely nothing with sequins! And for the night, I will go with a heavy silk or a Kanjeevaram, ideally in darker and brighter colours. I hate brown but anything like an emerald green, fuchsia or purple.

Swastika channelled the vibrant Paithani-style Benarasi bandhani sari in pure georgette which has parrot, peacock and leaf motifs all over the body. The embroidered blouse in a contrasting navy blue adds a fun element to the look accessorised with a polki necklace Sari: Naina Jain’s Meenakari Collection; blouse: V-Cut The Blouse Expert; accessories: Indian Gem & Jewellery Creation

An orange Benarasi is worn in the traditional aatpoure style with pleats — just like Madhuri and Aishwarya in Devdas — paired with a bright yellow embroidered blouse, dramatic kohl-lined eyes, glossy pale lips and statement temple jewellery in gold Sari: Simaaya; blouse: V-Cut The Blouse Expert; accessories: Indian Gem & Jewellery Creation

The traditional ‘hajarbuti’ motif woven in the Jamdani technique in a natural tussore with a slim red border that lends it a Bengali touch. Paired with a red blouse, a gold nath, cuff and ring Sari: Paromita Banerjee; blouse EthniK Yarn by Kasturi; accessories: Indian Gem & Jewellery Creation

What kind of jewellery do you like wearing with a sari?

With saris I wear a lot of silver, gold, polki... I have this immense love for nose pins! So it’s a must if you have a piercing and a must if you don’t have too!

For today’s shoot, I wore a big nath for one of the looks and so we went easy on the other accessories because the nath was a statement piece in itself. I love temple jewellery... Ma had bought me one with Parvati and Ganesh motifs in it and it is a prized possession. Now, I am very fond of haathphool. You don’t have to wear a bangle; it’s quite a statement thing and the hand looks so beautiful. Maangtika is also fashionable, like just wear it and earrings. My day-to-day accessories will include a nose pin too!

Is there a beauty and make-up regimen that you follow?

I want to say what I am not following! Which is to not follow Deepika Padukone eyebrows and make a shrub on my forehead. I am tired of heroines following that. It looks abnormal because everyone doesn’t have a forehead like Deepika’s. People with thinner eyebrows are drawing the entire brow. People should just highlight what they have, so for me this trend is a big NO.

Trends like shiny eyelids are in fashion now and it’s pretty doable.

For the evening, one can go with gel kind of eyes, with the help of lip gloss and shadow if you don’t have the right product; but don’t make it too dark like a glossy red or black eyeshadow.

Eye pencils are in fashion now. I have one in yellow, green, red and the colours stand out with lots of mascara; in this case, go light on the lips. But if you are not doing much on the eyes, then go for a bright lip, with, say, Relentlessly Red or All Fired Up shades from M.A.C.

You can use tints for the cheeks and not apply a lot of blush-ons. Like say if you have put on a tint and are working, then it adds to the tint even when you are sweating; it doesn’t wash away like blush-on. For my films Kizie Aur Manny and Shah Jahan Regency, I have used tints.

Stylist: Neha Gandhi; make-up & hair: Prasenjit Biswas; location courtesy: AltAir Boutique Hotel Picture: Pabitra Das