Bhanu Athaiya found styling Zeenat Aman in Satyam Shivam Sundaram ‘difficult as she could use little cloth’, spoke about Helen’s only ‘condition’: daughter

lived and breathed art’ and that it was her passion. “If you ask her.. where she wanted to go? What was the special meal that she wanted to have? She would say, ‘Take me to a museum’,” the proud daughter said, adding that she would work from the sketches to the final look single-handedly, and that brought the remarkable result. She added that invariably it would always be the first sketch that she made that would get approved by the producers.

The entrepreneur then went on to recall a tale about the time Raj Kapoor met Bhanu Athaiya for Satyam Shivam Sundaram. She shared that after he gave her the narration, he also played some music from the film on his harmonium. “By the time he went to have tea, she had seven sketches ready. He okayed everything and paid her in advance for it immediately,” she shared. Radhika Gupta added that her mother had admitted how the film was, however, a big challenge for her.

Bhanu Athaiya designed Zeenat Aman’s costume in Satyam Shivam Sundaram. (Express archive photo)

‘She respected each star’s requirements’

She said, “My mother kept saying it was a very difficult [project] because she had to use as little cloth as possible. She had the advantage that it was someone like Zeenat Aman, who had a gorgeous body and her carriage was exemplary. She said it was a pleasure dressing her up and yet giving her enough clothes to prevent the male gaze, to protect her from that. It was very important for her.”

Elaborating on how the costume designer made efforts to make her actors feel safe and protected, she spoke about Helen’s condition while dressing up. Radhika shared that when Bhanu Athaiya did her cabaret costume designs, she would cover her body with a lining. “It was always about a woman’s body… the sensuous body. It was the need of the hour for Helen ji’s clothes. But Helen ji always wore a skin colour lining on her stomach and on her sleeves. She was so particular. Helen ji was the most sensuous woman I have seen in all these years. And my mother always respected each star’s requirements. She ensured they were comfortable before they went in front of the camera.”

Helen with actor Joy Mukherjee and Vimi in Kahin Aar Kahin Par shoot. (Express Archive)

Sharing another such heartening incident, Radhika Gupta said that while Bhanu Athaiya was creating clothes for Saheb Biwi Aur Ghulam, Meena Kumari refused to wear the traditional ‘dhakai sarees’ as that would make her look like a ‘sack of potato’. “She got net sarees and made her team embroider the same motifs to make them look like the Bengali-style sarees. That was the detail that she did. It was so intricate that no one ever questioned whether it wasn’t the actual dhakai or not.” Radhika ended the conversation by sharing how her mother believed in staying true to the roots yet also creating new designs.

The celebrated costume designer Bhanu Athaiya passed away in October 2020, at the age of 91.