Choli, Bindis and Sarees ~ Jyoti Kerkar

If you are following my columns by now you must be knowing am a complete Movie buff and try to bring you something different which will interest everyone. This time I write about the yesteryears stars and recent star heroines pehnawa, accessories and their attire. We always followed their styles of clothing, earrings, neckpiece, bags and numerous other things that caught our fancy. I did though I was born in the late 70’s I still followed fashions of the 50’s and 60’s when I grew up. This made me look always unique different and everyone nearly followed my style.

I will take you down memory lane, you need to go back and watch the scene, song am referring to on the internet YouTube and other sources available, if you do not remember. I never ever liked Mala Sinha, but my Mother said she was a style icon of her times , and so I watched her closely,  I love this  song from the movie “Love Marriage” with Dev Anand – song “ Dheere Dheere chal chand gagan” check her glittering earrings , they are simply beautiful. She wore short skirts with an oomph too. .

Next is my all-time. favourite Madhubala., everyone must have seen her Mughal-e- Azaam right and the famous song “Mohe panghat pe “have you noticed  her lovely dress especially the choli , that was definitely copied by the dress designer for Aisshwarya Rai in “ Kajra re Kajra re “ from Bunty Babli. Her Blouse with the side buttons in “Kala Pani”, the song “Accha ji mai haari” lovely.

Sadhana another actress I liked, she was called the Indian Audrey Hepburn and she did resemble her. Did you notice the ear gold cuff she wore in the 60’s ? The movie “Hum Dono“The lovely blouse and saree, it’s a shame the movies of those time were in Black and White. I love all her heavy embroidered border sarees worn.

Asha Parekh never missed a scene to wear the choicest clothing in Love.in Tokyo” for the song “Aja re ah jaara” she fist wore the zipped saree and the crystal accessory of a delicate flower in her chignon. It was a known fact that she always wore her diamond and ruby necklace as a charm which brought her luck, I think she is wearing it n the same movie for the song “Mujhe tum mil gaye.” . Her pearl embellished top in Teesri Manzil” for the song “Aja Aja mai hoon pyaar tera”, is a standout till date

 Saira Banu was not on my favourite list but there are some of her accessories I need to mention. All her tight Salwar suits in her debut film “Junglee” are stunning, and in the same movie her pearl earring for the song “ Ehsan tera hoga muj par” , she continued to wear lovely clothes in the epic movie Padosan too.  

Nutan charming and her   awesome acting, her smile use to lit her eyes too. In the movie “Anari ” with Raj Kappor , she wore these huge earrings , not danglers for the song “ Na samjhe woh Anari  hai “ lovely I wish could get those. She hardly did glamorous roles so less of her accessories we can talk about .

Mumtaz carried off everything with style, her iconic zipper saree  for the song “ Aaj kal tere mere pyaar ke “ , in the movie “Brahmchari” is still a standout.

 Hemamalini is one actress who has worn everything possible and looked good may it be fruits hanging on her head in Kasauti movie or Silver Blue hair in the movie “Tum Haseen main Jawaan” Or all the cotton sarees she wire for all the Gulzar movies.

Zeenat Aman , Parveen Babi had ingrained style and wore everything  with panache. Sharmila Tagore and Shabana Azmi in real life have better style and sense of dressing but I never can remember a particular outfit  or accessory that caught my eyes.

Vyjayantimala was and is still beautiful, I remember two movies of her and her entire look, one is the super hit Raj Kapoor production “Sangam” she was a changed lady without the iconic south style kajal, her sarees, trousers and accessories she wore can never be forgotten. And her cotton fluff red saree in the movie “Jewel Thief” song “Dil pukare” iconic as serene as the pahadi song by the maestro Sachi Dev Burman.

Waheeda Rehman she was an excellent actress, and dancer. But I canno t remember anything about her attire that caught my eye. She was noticed for her dances and acting.

Meena Kumari too is remembered for her pathos and serene acting. The only exception is her way of styling herself for the movie “Saheb Bibi aur Ghulam “for the song “Piya aiso jeeya main” beautiful.

Now for the 80’s and 90’s and millennium actress and stars. The first names are Madhuri Dixit, si adore her , but she never had/has any sort of dress sense, she has a stunning face and figure.

Sridevi also was never attire conscious except Yash Chopra films and her chiffon sarees, and the lovely clothes in movie “Lamhe”

 Poonam Dhillon, Rati Agnihotri, Padmini Kolhapure mediocre dressing sense. Tina Munim came with a oomph following Dimple Khanna steps. Still Dimple’s  comeback also was good she had those stunning eyes and mane but dress I don’t recollect any. Neetu Singh was cute but still I cannot think of anything she wore caught my eyes . The Kapoor sisters carried everything they wore with panache but nothing I thought I woud wear.

Then in the millennium we had the likes of many who are still there but would like to mention Deepika Padukone who wore excellent clothes in the movie “Love Aaj Kal” I loved each attire, accessory she wore of I simply love them really. These are few that o wrote about as I have watched these stars and their movies , you have something to write about do comment in the column’s comment section.

For me Movies will be Light -Sound-Camera-Action and then I am in the make believe world..

Jyoti Kerkar

Instagram Handle: @bayofmumbai