No creative person's portfolio is complete without working with Yash Raj Films. Artistes swear by the production house's penchant for perfection and grandeur. Meet costume designer Mandira Shukla who slowly and steadily muscled her way into the big Yash Raj league.
"I began costume designing in 1995. I worked as an assistant on Mira Nair's Kamasutra. I have worked on about six to seven foreign films including the French film Hyperchondriac and German film Flames in Paradise. But things weren't going stupendously for me. I wanted to get into advertising. But that didn't materialise. I knew nothing about films and I didn't think of costume making as my forte then," reminisces Mandira whose father Vinay Shukla is a director himself.
"I assisted costume designer Lavleen Bains. My first Hindi film was my father's film Godmother that fetched me the Zee Cine Award and I was nominated for the National award too. I did the secondary cast for Veer Zaara though I wasn't really charged about it. I dressed up the jailers, inmates, extras and dancers. But my father reassured me saying if Yash Raj notices talent you'll be given better opportunities and you're likely to go a step further," adds Mandira who is currently working on Kunal Kohli's untitled film and Ashok Amritaj's Hollywood film.
Her next Yash Raj film is Madhuri Dixit's much hyped comeback film, ace cinematographer-turned-director Anil Mehta's Aaja Nachle where she gets to design for everyone but Madhuri. Incidentally, Manish Malhotra has designed for the dhak-dhak Bollywood diva.
Text: Swati R Chaudhary
Also read: Showcasing Aaja Nachle
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