The critically-acclaimed Prime Video show Made in Heaven is back with a new season after a three-year long hiatus. Haven't watched it yet? Here's what makes it so engaging.
Produced by Excel Media & Entertainment and Tiger Baby, the Emmy nominated series has been directed by Alankrita Shrivastava, Neeraj Ghaywan, Nitya Mehra, Reema Kagti and Zoya Akhtar. It revolves around the tumultuous lives of Tara Khanna (Sobhita Dhulipala) and Karan Mehra (Arjun Mathur), two best friends in New Delhi trying to keep their wedding planning business afloat.
Apart from the riveting plot, Made in Heaven has been deemed India's best-looking show thanks to the fashion-forward style of its characters. To know more about what went into designing the show’s costumes, we had a chat with Bhawna Sharma, the former model-turned-stylist for Made in Heaven season 2.
“When Zoya (Akhtar) spoke to me about the show and asked me to design the costumes, I was thrilled. I'm a Delhi girl, so I know this world intimately. Marriages are also such an integral part of our culture; I had seen season 1 and thought it was such a refreshing show so I was excited to come onboard,” says Sharma.
For a show that revolves around lavish weddings in every episode, Sharma had to painstakingly design the costume choices for every character alongside pulling intricate bridal ensembles together for the wedding sequences. She carefully picked looks to tell a story through the colours, the jewellery, the accessories. Keep reading to know more about how she did it.
What kind of research did you do before styling each character?
Season 1 laid out a lot of things for me. It was nice to follow that style vocabulary and then bring a layer of freshness to it. I had to stick to the character arcs because each character has a distinct narrative from beginning to end—the place they come from, the world they belong to, etc. Depending on whether they’re going through highs or lows in life, I had to choose colours to represent that and design looks accordingly.
For example, when I was dressing Tara (Sobhita Dhulipala), she’s the lead character and more powerful in season 2. In the first season, she was trying to figure life out as she went through some challenges. In this season, she really comes into her own power even as she continues to hustle. Her wardrobe reflects that. She wears a lot of power suits and cinched waists in monotones that spell 'power woman'. You see Karan (Arjun Mathur) donning more formal wear as his wardrobe reflects his personal and professional transition. Even a character like Jazz (Shivani Raghuvanshi)—who comes from a lower middle class background—is really trying to up her fashion game. In all honesty, the research was more about keeping the script and character arcs at the centre and not about keeping up with current fashion trends.
I approached the very best wedding couturiers like Sabyasachi, Tarun Tahiliani, Gaurav Gupta, Gaurang Shah, and Manish Malhotra for the bridal looks. The designs you see in the show aren't off the rack; they were custom designed for Made in Heaven.
Let’s talk about the bridal outfits. How did you pull those off?
I went to some of the biggest design houses in India with a colour palette for each bride and a vision for how I wanted it to turn out. I approached the very best wedding couturiers like Sabyasachi, Tarun Tahiliani, Gaurav Gupta, Gaurang Shah, and Manish Malhotra for the looks. The designs you see in the show aren't off the rack; they were custom designed for the show. We worked with each design house for not only the bridal looks but also every family portrait you see in the show. The directors, the production design team, the multiple designers—we were a creative collective for the costumes and it was such a great experience.
We can’t talk about the bridal outfits without mentioning the jewellery. Tell us a little more about that!
We worked with multiple jewellers across India, and every piece you see the family wearing in the portraits are actual precious jewellery pieces! We wanted the portraits to exude wealth and refinement, which wouldn’t have happened if we'd used costume jewellery. For the brides, we worked with the likes of Kalyan Jewellers, Sreehari, etc as these brands do a lot of traditional Indian wedding jewellery. For the other characters, we’ve pulled a lot of beautiful pieces from Bulgari and other luxury jewellery brands.
What was the most challenging look to create and which is your favourite look?
I can’t recall any specific challenges to be honest, but my most favourite yet challenging look was for Tara, when she goes to sign her divorce papers. That was an exciting one for me!
Made in Heaven season 2 premieres on Prime Video on August 10. Prime Video is included with your Prime membership, which costs ₹1,499 annually or ₹299 monthly. Subscribe here: amazon.in/prime.
