Actor Prateik Babbar recently grabbed eyeballs in a black pantsuit at the screening of Shyam Benegal’s Manthan at Cannes 2024. More than a glitzy outfit, the pantsuit acted as an emotional connection between Prateik and his late mother Smita Patil, who starred in the 1976 classic, as it was made from the latter’s Kanjeevaram saris.
Stylist Rahul Vikay, who revealed the news in a long post on Instagram, mentioning how the saris were upcycled for Prateik’s pantsuit for the special event as a nod to the late Indian actress. Prateik was only 15 days old when Smita died of childbirth complications in 1986 at the age of 31.
Thanking Prateik for giving him the opportunity to create such a poignant moment with the outfit, Rahul said he decided to incorporate elements of Smita’s style into her son’s look. “When Prateik called me up asking me to dress him up for the Indian premiere of #Manthan, #SmitaPatil’s first movie that was shown at the recent Cannes Film Festival, I knew I had to bring in elements of Smita Patil’s style into his look.”
The team turned to Prateik’s aunt for Smita’s saris and received eight Kanjeevaram saris to work with. Rahul then narrowed it down to two silk Kanjeevaram sarees. “One had this pinstripe pattern all over in a dark maroon & black, and the other one was a plain black silk saree-both preserved to perfection,” Rahul mentioned.
The stylist also talked about the process to convert the saris into a men’s outfit. “Now this was challenging because we were getting womenswear pieces & moreover we didn’t know what we would end up finding from Smita Patil’s wardrobe that would match Prateik’s style,” he said.
For creating a silhouette that “would do justice to the sarees and would also not compromise on Prateik’s style”, Rahul contacted designer Monica Shah. Together, they designed Prateik’s outfit and crafted the pantsuit. “And finally we decided on a cropped double breasted tuxedo in plain black silk & we recycled the second pinstriped saree into wide legged pants and used the red border of the saree as trims on the sleeves,” he mentioned.
“Sustainable fashion with an emotional connection, this look has it all! Thank you to everyone at Jade involved with this project and my super super team @disha_punjabi and @simranbhatia28. Never thought I would recycle two sarees into menswear,” the stylist signed off, thanking everyone for their efforts.
Manthan, which is India’s first crowdfunded film, has recently been restored by the Film Heritage Foundation. The re-released version of the movie, inspired by India
‘S milk cooperative movement, released in 100 cinema halls in India on June 1 and 2.
