Nachiket Barve wins National Award for the costumes for ‘Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior’

Over 1,800 costumes–two years in the making–and countless hours of research, the designer shares the journey that won him this accolade

When I message fashion designer–and now National Award-winning costume designer for Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior (2020)–Nachiket Barveon the evening of his win, he says he is celebrating quietly. “Cuddles with my baby are enough!” he texts back. “The news was a pleasant bolt from the blue. I only found out when a journalist called me for a quote, and I didn’t even know for what [it was] at that time!”

Director Om Raut’s movie starring actors Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan and Kajol celebrates the 17th-century Maratha warrior and commander Tanhaji Malusare, who was Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s right-hand man and close ally. As is with any historical production, costumes were pivotal in lending authenticity to the on-screen narrative. This required Barve, and Mahesh Shelar, with whom he shares the National Award, to travel back in time to bring the past alive. “Dealing with historical characters is a massive responsibility, and not something you can take frivolous liberties with,” Barve tells The Established.

He dedicates the award to the mammoth team that worked on the costumes. “It took an army to dress the army on screen!” adds the costumier who has also worked on Raut’s upcoming film Adipurush, based on the Ramayana. Yet another project Barve is working on is a biopic on Maratha warrior Baji Prabhu Deshpande, and a slice-of-life film starring Jaya Bachchan.

It’s all about the details

The preparation for his award-winning work on Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior took about two years—he travelled to museums across India and the world, “harrowed” (in Barve’s words) families to open up their private collections for research and worked with artisans to recreate pieces using techniques of the era. They traced the roots of textiles popular with the Marathas and looked at the Silk Route for costumes of characters from the Mughal empire. “We sourced ilkal saris from Dharwad on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border for Kajol who plays Savitribai Malusare, and used the finest mulmuls, jamavars, brocades and uncut emerald jewellery for the character of Aurangzeb.” It were these small details that lent the costumes their authenticity. “For instance, we worked with vegetable dyes as was the case in those days. We traced a jeweller in Kolhapur whose ancestors worked with the royal family back then, who pulled out 400-year-old moulds from his archive for us.”

Barve’s endeavour was to bring these characters to the big screen with reverence but also with a dash of audacity. “There was no photography back then. Only portraits that served as our point of reference. So beyond research, you also have to bring your own intuition and interpretation to the costumes,” he shares. “Saif’s character, Udaybhan Singh Rathore, for example, is evil but he is also incredibly suave and stylish. Saif even brought out some jewellery from his grandfather’s personal collection, and wore one of his rings in the movie,” reveals Barve.

Striking a balance

The designer was conscious of not going overboard, as can sometimes be the case with historical productions, sticking to an austere colour palette instead. “More is not always more. Ultimately, the costumes should seamlessly slip into the narrative to elevate the experience for the viewers rather than distract them. Good costumes should whisper, not shout,” he feels. This quiet approach is mirrored in the work for his eponymous label, too. In an age where so much importance is given to Instagram campaigns that try too hard to create viral moments, Barve prefers the old-school way. “There is already too much white noise in the world. I don’t want to add to it. Honesty and authenticity have been the pillars of my work. We’ve always championed slow, inclusive and long-lasting fashion—our sizes run up to 6XL and we still get orders on our very first collection from 2007—but without shouting from the rooftops. I am about the kind of luxury that is quiet, not showy,” signs off the designer.

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