Bouffants and bell bottoms

Deepa Karmalkar delves into the flashy fashion of the seventies to discovers what makes it so irresistible to contemporary filmmakers.

It all started with Shah Rukh Khan’s Om Shanti Om that dipped back in time to set the box office on fire with a cracker of an reincarnation story. The super success of the movie sent filmmakers scurrying back to the 70s. Then last year, we saw Imtiaz Ali’s Love Aaj Kal and this year, the gangster flick, Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai rewinding to the sensational 70s. Even chick flick Aisha’s look and styling was rooted in the simple chic of that era as well. In Khatta Meetha, Priyadarshan had a special item song inspired by Dimple’s Jhoot bole kauwa kate… number in Bobby. And just when you thought you had got enough of the bell bottoms and slinky gowns, comes the Ash-Akshay starrer Action Replayy travelling back in time and resurrecting the side burns and bouffant in all their glory.

 

Vipul Shah, the director of Action Replayy, says the audience reacts to the seventies instantly. While other filmmakers argue that the script demands that they go back in time — for instance Farhan Akhtar’s sequel to Don must trek back to the jaunty seventies. However Rauf Ahmed, veteran film archivist and journalist opines that Bollywood is running out of ideas and running back to the 70s. “Now, they cannot simply lift Hollywood themes because of copyright issues.They have already done the remake circuit. What remains is the seventies.”

Girish Ranade, creative producer for Bollywood films like Gumnaam and Hollywood films made in India, argues that the 70s have the greatest variety to offer in terms of changing themes as well as stars. “From romantic Rajesh Khanna, dashing Dharmendra to angry young man Amitabh, from glam doll Zeenat to the girl-next-door Jaya Bhaduri, from out-and-out masala movies to sensitive art cinema — the 70s offer an amazing range,” he says.

Ahmed admits that the seventies saw the most dramatic change in the structure of Bollywood. “Beginning with Rajesh Khanna super smash romances and culminating in Amitabh Bachchan’s angry young man, the seventies witnessed a merger of the old and new. It also saw the confluence of conflicting genres in art and mart cinema.”

The sets
Noted film journalist Udaya Tara Nayar elaborates, “The cinema of the seventies was larger than life, with grand sets comprising huge halls with majestic staircases. And of course, there would be the villain’s underground den teeming with lights and gizmos. They also used big, flashy  cars like the Cadillac. Everything was so unreal and huge then.” Add to that, the adorable puttering scooter to cart the lead pair around.

The look
As Ajay Devgn sported white-on-white high-waisted, flared trousers and wide collared shirts and Kangna preened around in high bouffant hair-dos and slinky gowns in Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai, the audience was entranced by the quirky styling of the seventies. It brought back memories of cinema which held a magnificently unrealistic aura. Designer duo Rushi-Manoshi who styled the look of Once… think that the seventies made a never-before fashion statement in every category, “Hair, make-up, dresses, skirts, shoes, bags and even sari — everything changed in the seventies. In many ways, it was a pioneering era so it is also the most re-visited,” they reason.

Indeed, even in the uber-chic, label heavy Aisha, the directive to US trained stylist Pernia Quereshi was to make the leading lady Sonam look “sweet and pretty” in the style of the seventies as well as contemporary. She brought back the high-waist trousers from the mid-70s reckoning, “The nipped-at-the-waist pants make you look slim and tall.” Namrata Soni, the hair and make-up artist says she was required to “make Sonam look gloriously radiant yet simple, a la Audrey Hepburn”.

There was also a paradigm shift as far as the Bollywood heroine was concerned. Gone was the demure, submissive leading lady of the 60s and in stepped the empowered heroine of the 70s. The decade began with Mumtaz in diaphanous fabrics and layered sarees in films like Aap Ki Kasam.

Oscar winner Bhanu Athaiya crafted that special layered saree drape that became famous as the Mumtaz saree. Sharmila Tagore’s elaborate bouffant, arched eyebrows and Cleopatra-like winged eyeliner became her signature style. The mid-70s witnessed the simple, conservative style of Hema Malini and Jaya Bhaduri. And t he late seventies was about the emancipated, Westernised woman. The pleasantly plump heroine of the early seventies morphed into the slim and lanky hippie avatar with Zeenat Aman’s Dum Maro Dum… avatar in Hare Rama Hare Krishna. Parveen Babi popularised the dancer’s leotard and body suit in films like Namak Halal. Raj Kapoor’s teen romance Bobby launched Dimple Kapadia in American high school style mini skirts, bikini, hot pants and crop tops.

And as for the men, there was a lot of variety — from the silk lungi-kurtas and Guru shirts favoured by Rajesh Khanna to the denim jackets and bell bottom jeans sported by Amitabh and Dharmendra. The late 70s also saw them donning Saturday Night Fever style ritzy dance club wear, complete with sequinned jackets.

Little wonder then that the seventies are so hard to say goodbye to.

[Deepa Karmalkar is a Mumbai-based freelance writer]