A Lahore State of mind

CHENNAI : In their 24-year-old design career, Rimple and Harpreet Narula have not worked on a project as intimately entwined with their personal journey as director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Heeramandi’. Though they grew up in Ludhiana, their childhood was imbued with stories of their grandparents, aunts and relatives from Gujranwala in undivided Punjab and the vibrant life of that time. “We were simply swept by nostalgia,” says Harpreet, ahead of the release of the series set in pre-partition Lahore, and several other districts, including Gujranwala.

Heeramandi, a period drama, portrays the lives of courtesans in the red-light area of Lahore. While the area, during the Mughal rule, was a centre of classical arts practised by tawaifs who enjoyed royal patronage, it was reduced to a hub of prostitution under British rule. The eight-episode series will capture this tumultuous milieu through a tale of love, betrayal, loss and power games, brought on screen by actors Sonakshi Sinha, Manisha Koirala, Richa Chadha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sanjeeda Shaikh and Sharmin Segal, decked in angiya (bodice) with ghaghras, shararas, kalidar pyjamas with kurtas and sheer dupattas to sequin saris and more, all made by the Narulas.

The inspiration

Pre-partition Lahore was influenced by British, Nawabi, and Sikh styles in dressing. Courtesan ensembles, too, were an amalgamation of European prints, zardosi work and phulkaris. Before beginning with the actual design, Rimple and Harpreet went through a huge collection of archival textiles of the era, which they had collected during their travels. This came in handy for the project. “We had collected various kinds of embroidered phulkaris like Bagh, Tilpatra and Chaddar. We also had 18th-century European prints like toile de jouy, which depicted beautiful scenery on fabric imitating the landscape of the French city, Jouy, besides textiles inspired by Mughal artworks and Persian prints,” says Harpreet.

The couple also delved into the lives of historical personalities, into literature, art and the monuments of Lahore for inspiration. If books such as Punjab Reconsidered: History, Culture, and Practice offered them “invaluable insights”, songstresses of that era inspired them no less. “Iconic singers from that era such as Noor Jehan, Shamshad Begum and Mukhtar Begum and their dressing sense served as time capsules, offering glimpses into the aesthetics and sensibilities of the period,” adds Rimple. Fabrics such as silk, brocade, cotton, chiffon and linen were chosen for an opulent look; for everyday scenes in the series, more basic textiles like linen and jute were used.