Jhansi rani costume

Neeta Lulla has been Bollywood’s go-to costume designer for over two decades, especially for historical films and costume dramas. Her credits include Khuda Gawah, Chandni, Lamhe, Devdas and Jodhaa Akbar, and she has won both praise and awards for her projects. Lulla’s last Bollywood period film was Ashutosh Gowariker’s Mohenjo Daro in 2016, and she returns with yet another movie set in more recent times. Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi stars Kangana Rananut as the fiery and brave nineteenth-century queen Laxmibai of Jhansi. The cast for the January 25 release, which has been do-directed by Krish and Ranaut, includes Jisshu Sengupta, Atul Kulkarni, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub and Ankita Lokhande in her feature film debut. Lulla and her team researched for over two months to create the costumes, followed by four months of trials and tests. “I had been approached by two other production houses for the subject earlier,” Lulla told Scroll.in. “One was being helmed by Sushmita Sen, and the other I do not quite recollect. So I was not new to the subject. But when I was approached by the production team for Manikarnika, I began to work with a fresh perspective.” Play Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi (2019). Lulla began with the information available at libraries and museums. “There are plenty of visual references and historical documents that give us an idea of the queen – what she looked like and how she dressed,” Lulla said. “There are paintings, illustrations, and fabric samples th...