Bringing alive the glittering past

The past is coming back to haunt jewellery designs as designers go back to India’s rich past to make a style statement for the new millennium, writes Rashmi Kao

IT’S back to the past as far as jewellery designs go. Two well-known designers of Delhi are busy redefining jewellery designs which are set to rule the Indian markets in the first few years of the new millennium.

Interestingly, both Asha Kamal Modi and Ashish Soni have given a go by to the present designs ruling the European markets and have leaned back to India’s rich past for the kind of jewellery women wore.

While Asha Kamal Modi has made an attempt to revive the essence of the golden period of Indian cinema by reproducing designs worn by leading heroines, Ashish Soni has gone back a thousand years. He has re-crafted the costumes and jewellery forms worn during the days of the Chandellas who built the Khajuraho temples.

Though there may not be sensuous figures which adorn the temples of Khajuraho, Soni will be making some of India’s top models like Noyonika Chatterjee, Madhu Sapre, Malika Arora, Sheetal Malhar and others wear the costumes and jewellery of the era.

"It has taken me almost a year-and-a-half to research the kind of costumes and jewellery worn during that era," says Ashish Soni and adds," I took hundreds of pictures and also read whatever I could before I finally started doing the designs which were in vogue a thousand years ago".

Asha Kamal Modi, however, didn’t have to go that far. For her inspiration, she merely had to take a look at some of the old movies and see the kind of jewellery the top heroines wore in the fifties.

Her main inspiration came from leading ladies like Madhubala, Meena Kumari, Nargis and Suraiya whose varied styles greatly influenced the jewellery designs of the forties and the fifties.

According to Modi, every leading lady had a style of her own and each of these styles became popular among different segments. She says: "It wasn’t just the jewellery but the aura these heroines projected with their stunning looks, attractive dressing sense and ornaments which left a lasting impression on the fashion-conscious society".

For example, Madhubala, whom she calls the Venus of the Indian screen, wore jewellery that was very selective and very subtly complimented her sensuous looks.

Meena Kumari, on the other hand, was a symbol of maudlin melancholy who mesmerised all. She mostly preferred elaborate jewellery as was evident in films like Sahib Biwi Aur Gulam and Pakeezah.

Suraiya, who had the voice of a nightingale loved Rani Haars, Jhumars and rings which added to her appeal as in Mirza Ghalib.

Nargis, however, was the earth goddess with very unconventional looks, and preferred delicate jewellery that redefined her elegance.

"Old fashions are now coming to the fore", Asha Kamal Modi says, adding that Indian women preferred to go back to the past because Indian culture provided them with a variety that was richer than all the variety of the world put together.

Thus, whether it is the Khajuraho era or the glamorous heroines of the Hindi cinema of the fifties, it looks like jewellery designs of the past are going to be back in the new millennium. — Newsmen Feature