Costume designer-turned-celebrity stylist Eka Lakhani has always learnt from the best. Be it starting out as an intern with a fashion designer like Sabyasachi Mukherjee for handling the costumes for all Mani Ratnam films since Kadal. More recently, she has been styling the fashion-forward duo — Karan Johar and Ranveer Singh — for films, events and social dos. And she does this for many other biggies in Bollywood and the South film industries too.

Eka finds Sabyasachi’s passion “addictive”, considers Mani Ratnam her “film school”, credits Karan Johar for her “love of luxury”, and calls Ranveer Singh a “dream-come-true” as a stylist.

The Telegraph Online speaks to Eka Lakhani about breathing life into the characters in Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1 through costumes, her association with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, her excitement about collaborating with Shah Rukh Khan in Dunki and more.

As a costume designer, Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1 must be your biggest film in terms of scale… Eka Lakhani: Yes, it’s the biggest film in terms of scale, then what a dream could do and the look we had to create. It’s the biggest and the most challenging so far.

Of late, Bollywood has started collaborating with the South film industries. On the contrary, you have been working with Mani Ratnam for a decade and only recently, you have turned into a stylist through your association with Karan Johar….

Eka Lakhani: I never had a Bollywood dream or a dream to work in films. I genuinely wanted to do something in high fashion, work in a magazine, and be a designer one day. I wasn’t sure which direction I would get into. I studied fashion design. I did summer courses in New York and stayed there to do more courses.

When I came back, I came to know that Sabyasachi Mukherjee was looking for interns for a film. That name was a dream to work with! Then I came to know that there would be Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Vikram in it, and it would be directed by Mani Ratnam, so that’s something you can’t let go of. I spoke to my father, who asked me to go ahead. Sabyasachi would send the clothes. It was the production team who would put together the look. I was part of that team.

Because Raavan was my first film, everything I learnt was from the Mani Ratnam world, be it costumes, the way a thing is worn, the hair put casually or the dupatta falling from one side. I learnt and grasped his aesthetics. I developed my love for raw textiles from him. He is my film school.

I started admiring Mani Ratnam so much that working on his next film became my dream. I made a mannat (a wish). (Laughs) I thought I would get an opportunity later, as the names who were in Mani sir’s costume world are high up there. I never thought in my wildest dream that I would get his next film.

Looking back, what learnings from Sabyasachi Mukherjee have stayed with you?

Eka Lakhani: When we were in college, we had to fill the slam book about the designer we wanted to work with — it was always Sabyasachi! I worked with him closely. He took us to his workshop in Kolkata to see how his karigars, embroiderers and dyers work. He pushed forward the heritage. He never tried to change or modernise anything. He was the one who was going back to the roots and that made it more and more beautiful. His passion is addictive.

You have worked with Mani Ratnam on all his films as a costume designer since Kadal in 2013. How were the Ponniyin Selvan meetings different from what you have approached with him so far?

Eka Lakhani: The whole approach with Ponniyin Selvan was different. For any other film, we had to make the characters real, beautiful and believable. These were the terms we used. Every character was associated with where they worked, they lived, their likes and dislikes. We made the characters with Mani sir’s vision.

In Ponniyin Selvan, the world was created and we had to add the Mani Ratnam touch to it. Audiences knew about the world of Ponniyin Selvan as it’s a popular novel. We wanted to make it aesthetic. We had to build from the novel, speak to Mani sir and get his input on how glamorous or detailed it should be. His world was more opulent and real.

You did thorough research work for Ponniyin Selvan. That’s also a first, right?

Eka Lakhani: Yes, this is the first film where I spent around three to four months in prep work before we started the costumes. There was history, so we had to research the era. I went to Tanjore, spoke to the weavers, studied the paintings and had in-depth meetings with Mani sir. It was easy to go wrong. You could miss the finer details as it was more of imagination and sketches. I had to get together a team of master weavers, had multiple meetings with the armour team, and put together the best people in hair, makeup and ornaments.

Ponniyin Selvan gave you the opportunity to reconnect with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan after Raavan. Her Nandini and Trisha Krishnan’s Kundavai looks have been loved by women. Do we expect to see inspired looks in the upcoming wedding season?

Eka Lakhani: (Laughs) Yes, I know! So many new brides have been writing to me. I had started with Raavan with Aish (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) ma’am. She is a perfectionist. What it takes to be a perfectionist, I learnt from her. She was very particular about how long the necklace would be and how far the dupatta would sit. The fact that she was so much into details made my work look beautiful.

I hadn’t worked with her after Raavan. It was very special and intimidating because this person has seen me in the beginning, so will she be able to trust me and will I be able to pull it off? I had these inhibitions in mind. She had a lot of feedback. It was collaborative work, especially because we were creating a look of an era, which wasn’t attempted. There was a lot of back and forth.

Coming to Trisha’s hairstyle, we were not sure how it would look on her. Being a tall woman, with scenes with tall men, you don’t want to be in inappropriate size, so we had trials of the bun. It was exhausting for us to try it repeatedly. Not once did Trisha complain. She was patient till Mani sir got his Kundavai. She had her spirits high.

The work that went into creating the look of the male characters in Ponniyin Selvan must have been daunting…

Eka Lakhani: The male characters had their royal, mid-royal, battlefield, army and travel looks. Vikram’s Aditha Karikalan’s look needed to be aggressive. There is a certain passionate and wild side to him. We used darker colours like black, burgundy and navy. For his battlefield look, we decided to pick burgundy or a black dhoti. For the Chola emblem, we used a lot of tiger motifs on his war armours and thigh guards. We wanted Jayam Ravi’s look to be a bit softer and calmer to show his kind side, and that he was loved by the people. We wanted to show his strength with softer colours such as ivory and bronze. We wanted him to have an appeal, so we used elephant tusks for his well-crafted armour detailing.

Moving on to your newfound love for celebrity styling, do you still have to explain to people the difference between being a costume designer and a stylist?

Eka Lakhani: Yes, I do. Sometimes my extended family also asks me about it. (Smiles) Fashion designers are not always stylists. Stylists are not always fashion designers. Stylists and fashion designers are not always costume designers. They are all from different genres. A fashion designer would take part in fashion weeks. She or he will have their muse and create a collection for the runaway. A costume designer would read the script, make the character their muse and would see how best the character would look as per the storytelling. A stylist often takes clothes from fashion designers to suit the actor’s personality for events or whenever they go out. Then, the actor becomes their muse.

What do you love doing more?

Eka Lakhani: I am more of a costume designer because my love for films is way greater than my love for fashion. I started styling only for a year and a half and I am enjoying it.

We can guess who your muse is as a stylist…

Eka Lakhani: (Laughs) My favourites are Ranveer Singh and Karan Johar. Ranveer Singh is like a canvas. One can paint anything because he is not afraid. He is fearless when it comes to fashion. He is bold and perfect. He is a dream come true! I am so glad that I am styling these two people. If it wasn’t for Ranveer or Karan, I wouldn’t have done so much styling work in my life.

They were the first two people who allowed me to go big. I am styling them daily, and we discuss what to try next all the time. Like I said Mani sir was my film school, where my love for costumes and raw fabrics had started, my love for luxury and new trends has come from Karan. Both are great directors with absolutely different aesthetics. Interestingly, I worked on Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani and Ponniyan Selvan in the same year.

Who’s the one you want to style?

Eka Lakhani: I want to work with Alia Bhatt. Manish Malhotra has done her costumes in Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani.

You have Rajkumar Hirani’s Dunki coming up with none other than Shah Rukh Khan. How is it going?

Eka Lakhani: Just like everyone else, I am a Shah Rukh Khan fan. (Laughs) I am very excited to work with him. We just finished a schedule. It’s my first film with him and my second film with Rajkumar Hirani (the first was Sanju). Team E (Eka’s team of costume designers) and I are doing the web series Queen Season 2, based on (late politician) Jayalalithaa’s life.