By Jilawatan

The very first Couture Week in the capital was opened today by designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee who presented a collection inspired by the “essence of India”. Bollywood actresses Rani Mukherjee and Vidya Balan, who have time and again dressed in Sabyasachi’s creations, were present in the audience to cheer the designer.
“Sabyasachi is the only designer I stalk,” said Vidya, who was clad in a red sari by the designer, while Rani went for a western look in a black dress.

The collection named Aparajito, was unveiled in a grand show which began with the singing of the national anthem.

“Tradition cannot be beaten, Indian textiles cannot be beaten, simplicity and humbleness cannot be beaten. These are the strengths of the collection, that is why it is called ‘Aparajito’,” the designer told PTI.

“80 per cent of the fabric was Khadi. The whole collection had a museum like quality, vintage and nostalgic. There was Block printing from Rajasthan, Kalamkari from Andhra Pradesh, Khadi from Murshidabad,” said Sabyasachi.

Scenes from films like 1947 Earth played in the background as the models walked down the ramp.

“There was a montage of different clips to create a mood for the show, upbeat and nostalgic, romantic with a certain amount of decadence,” said the designer.

The collection comprised of 40 womenswear and 16 menswear mostly in earthy tones of muted greens, browns.

By Jilawatan

The latest and most hyped cat fight in the tinsel town is between Rani Mukherji and Vidya Balan. The duo reportedly has been shooting for their next film, No one killed Jessica. With both being together, the two seemed to exchange a lot cold vibes in between them.
The only time the two seemed to speak to each other were in the front of camera. And apart from that, Rani prefers to spend time talking to her mom through phone and Vidya loves being engrossed in one of the books she is interested in. Rumours has it that Vidya and Rani started to exchange unpleasant gestures after Vidya’s favourite designer, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, signed up Rani for his directorial debut instead of herself.

Rani was also seen giving the director of ”No one killed Jessica”, Mr. Rajkumar Gupta, invaluable inputs which were, incidentally (or should be say intentionally?) found to be NOT in favour of Vidya. The shooting of the movie was entirely fixed in Delhi. And once the duo once had given their shots, would run back to their respective vanity vans and would be engrossed in their own activities.

By Jilawatan

Bollywood has only two self-confessed insomniacs — one is Amitabh Bachchan and the other is Shah Rukh Khan. For years now the sleeping habits or rather the waking habits of these two phenomenons has been discussed endlessly. That the Big B reads or blogs incessantly through the night, and that SRK plays games or tweets till sunrise, is something everyone knows. However, a new breed of sleepless beauties and hunks have now descended on tinsel town. Some by default, others by design.

Vidya Balan says, “I’m very much a night bird. If you message or call me at night, I’ll promptly answer. But try doing this to me in the morning and you won’t even get a response.” Vidya also reads late into the night and on occasion has long winding chats with her friends including designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee.

Aamir Khan and Salman Khan also (and only) socialise post midnight. Sources say when Aamir keeps his security staff waiting after 11.30 pm, you should know he is likely to pay a visit to Salman’s Galaxy Apartments. The two buddies then go pub crawling (now Aamir doesn’t drink) and motorbike riding in the middle of the night. Their sessions usually end with Salman landing up at Aamir’s home in the wee hours. Of course, if Aamir’s wife Kiran Rao Khan is home, then the early morning activity continues at Salman’s bachelor pad.

By Jilawatan

There’s been gossip about designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee’s directorial venture and who among his favourites will star in it — Rani Mukerji or Vidya Balan.

While both are Sabya’s close friends and favourite Bollywood clients, and despite rumours of Vidya being the ‘obvious’ choice, the designer recently said that, if he has to choose from among the two, it will have to be Rani. And why? Sabya says he’s a bit of a loyalist and his loyalties lie with Rani.

After all he started his career as a Bollywood designer with her in Black. Also, Sabya feels Rani will do more justice to the role he has in mind. Hmm. Maybe working with one of her favourite designers may bring the much-needed luck factor in Rani’s waning B-Town career. Let’s wait and watch.

By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan recently told us that no matter what, she just can’t seem to sleep till the wee hours of the morning — read 3 am. We couldn’t help but wonder what or who kept her up till so late. And we found the answer, from a pretty unlikely source alebit.

Vidya’s favourite designer, Sabyasachi Mukherjee let the cat out of the bag by telling us that he and Vidya spend long hours chatting way into the night. And before you wonder what is it that keeps them so engrossed in conversation, it is books. Yes, the actor and designer bond over the latest books they are reading, discussing the plots of the stories and the various characters in depth. Does fashion also feature in those mid-night conversations Vidya?

By Jilawatan

A few days back the news about ace fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee directing his maiden film was out in a leading publication. Not only that, it was also reported that the designer has cast Vidya Balan in the lead for the film. While it made headlines for some time, but now the story has been denied by the designer himself.

By Jilawatan

He came along like a magician and transformed Bollywood’s two classic actresses’ wardrobe from boring to being bold and beautiful! The two said actresses are Rani Mukerjee and Vidya Balan and their magician is ace fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee.

Initially trashed for their jaded fashion sense, Rani and Vidya now get featured as the most stylish Indian actresses across the media. We thus decided to ask Sabya who amongst the two is better when we bumped into him on day one of Lakme Fashion Week’10 in Mumbai. Sabya has also designed clothes for both Rani and Vidya in their forthcoming film together ‘No one killed Jessica’.

“I’ll always choose Rani over Viyda. Rani gave me a chance in Black when I was a no one and I am quite loyal that ways. I even won a National award for the same! Rani and I are Bengalis, love fish curry and bond over bitching about people in Bengali”, said Sabya with a smile.

Adding about Vidya he said, “Vidya is a beautiful Indian woman. I made her realize she should wear what suits her personality instead of following trends. We both love books and films so we are good friends too but Rani will always be a priority.”

So does that mean we will see Rani in Sabya’s forthcoming film as a director? “Nothing has been decided as yet. I am in my scripting stage. I am very moody. You may not see any known face in my film too” said the designer who calls a spade a spade.

Talking about his collection at the Lakme fashion week which got tremendous response, Sabya said, “It was something I should have showcased 4 years ago. Underwear showing is not Sabya but I did it because I don’t play to the gallery anymore. I don’t care what my critics say. I wanted to do what I never did before – Bohemian – Retro mix n match collection. I was getting jaded and I felt like rediscovering myself. I get a lot of inspiration from the French/ Italian films. The music of my show proved that as they played the theme of Cinema Paradiso, Frida, Evita, Godfather while the models sashayed down the ramp.”

We just loved the collection and the feisty man behind it.

By Jilawatan

Here’s a new Jodi in the making. Vidya Balan and Pratik Babbar will be seen opposite each other for the first time in designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee’s upcoming untitled film.

According to sources, Sabyasachi is finalizing the script of his maiden film and has decided to cast close buddies Vidya Balan and Pratik Babbar in it. It’s also learnt that the designer turned filmmaker is also trying to cast actress Konkona Sen in the film but nothing is confirmed about her inclusion so far.

The sources further add that the film will go on the floors in June this year. The film is the story of NRI’s and will be shot extensively in London and Punjab. The first two week shooting schedule is expected to start in June in London.

By Jilawatan

That one of India’s most celebrated fashion designers, Sabyasachi Mukherjee will soon make his directorial debut is a well-known fact. The talented designer who has been painstakingly scripting his debut film is now ready to take his film on the floors in June this year.

Buzz is Sabyasachi’s close friend Vidya Balan and Pratik will star in his first film. Sabyasachi is also in talks with Konkona Sen Sharma, who had said during a recent interview that she finds Pratik very sexy. We won’t be surprised if she too signs on the dotted line.

As for Sabyasachi and Vidya, they became close friends when he designed her look in Paa. The designer’s admiration for Vidya was evident when he said in a recent interview: “Vidya is a naturally beautiful girl. I’ve often said that she looks much nicer off screen than she looks on screen so in Paa I have just reversed the process by making her look the way she is and not trying too hard to give her an identity because she is an Indian girl, she looks best in Indian clothes.” Vidya had also inaugurated his flagship store in Delhi recently.

A source said, “He had been scripting his film for a long time and is now adding finishing touches to it. His film, an out-and-out romantic comedy, is as unconventional as his clothes.”

According to the source, the film will be based on NRIs and will be shot in London and Punjab. The first two-week shooting schedule is expected to start in June in London.

Sabyasachi denied the news about starting his film’s shoot in June and said, “I am still scripting. It’s a long way before my film goes on the floors.”

However, our source maintains that things are almost finalised and the film is ready to roll soon. The designer is also in talks with several producers.

Sabyasachi is no stranger to Bollywood. He was the costume designer in Black and is also designing for forthcoming films Raavana and Guzaarish.

By Jilawatan

The little master of Kolkata, Sabyasachi now moves into another trajectory by establishing his first flagship store with a Post Colonial Kolkata feel revival, in the capital with Carma. Launched by Vidya Balan the store presents the country’s Little Master -Sabyasachi Mukherjee, with the biggest market share on the fashion radar.

Sabya’s recent significant moments include designing for Aishwarya Bachchan in Oprah Winfrey’s show, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s production Guzaarish, Maniratnam’s Ravan and R. Balki’s Paa. Available at this outlet are not only the finery that Sabyasachi is characteristically associated with– namely his Bridal Line, but it moves into presenting an eclectic mix of products including menswear, western, casuals, shoes, jewelry, and bags, with a special dedicated section that focuses on the revival of the woven sari.

Indeed Sabyasachi at Carma is an endeavor, that is the first for Sabyasachi and a first for Carma, where an aspiration to own an heirloom entitled Sabyasachi Mukherjee will be met.