‘Ramayana: Part 1′, directed by Nitesh Tiwari, required extensive research, fine craftsmanship and strong collaboration between its cast and technical team to build its visual world. Costume and armor designer Ajay Kumar found perfecting Ranbir Kapoor’s armor as Lord Rama to be one of his biggest challenges. He has now spoken about how the actor’s inputs shaped the final look, why the fitting became a race against time and how he approached designing the armor for Yash’s Ravana.
‘Ramayana’ designer Ajay Kumar on the challenge of the first armor
In a conversation with Variety India, Kumar spoke about the difficulty of making the princely armor Kapoor wears in the first half of the film. He said, “I have been in this industry for 15 years but not as an armor designer. The most challenging was to deliver the first armor. My sample had a thickness of 8mm to 10mm, but the final product had to have a thickness of 2mm to 4mm. It was very tough because it was made of rubber, which took two weeks.”The process got even tougher once Ranbir gave his feedback. He wanted the armor to look more refined and sit snugly against his body, without jutting out from the shoulder or neckline. Kumar reveals, “Ranbir also gave his feedback. He told me I did exactly what he was looking for, but he wanted it to be refined. He wanted the armour to be fitted to the skin and away from the shoulder or neckline. I got the same feedback from Ravie Dubey (Lakshman).”
Designer delivers the armor an hour before the shoot
The designer was left with only two days to make the changes and ended up delivering the armor just an hour before the shoot. He adds, “I went to RK’s vanity and requested him to try his armor on. He kept trusting me with the whole process, and it was important for me to make him feel like Ram in the clothes. I was scared because everything depended on how the armor was. Then he tried it on and gave me a go-ahead. He liked my work.”
About ‘Ramayana: Part 1’
Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, the film features Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Yash as Ravana, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Ravie Dubey as Laxman, Arun Govil as King Dashrath, Indira Krishnan as Kaushalya, Lara Dutta as Kaikeyi, Sheeba Chaddha as Manthara, Rakul Preet Singh as Surpanakha and Kajal Aggarwal as Mandodari.
