Actor Kangana Ranaut bats for the versatility of this ancient drape which is suited for every occasion. By Team Viva
It seems that after the big fat weddings of Deepika-Ranbeer and Priyanka-Nick, the traditional sari is making a comeback and how. We do not need Rekha to remind us of the gorgeous Kanjeevaram being an irreplaceable piece of couture. Younger actors are carrying on the baton rather well with or without the greatest sari proponent of them all, designer Sabyasachi. What is encouraging is that the most stylishly turned out film actors have embraced the sari as a cause celebre. The latest to join them is Kangana Ranaut, who is even endorsing a brand of yardage.
Speaking at the launch ceremony, she recalled that as a young girl she was fascinated with her mother’s wedding sari. “I would like to try and get hold of it. It was kept in knotted shiny fabric and we looked at it as if it was a treasure. We kept eyeing it but were not allowed to touch it. When we were 10-12, I asked my mother if I could look at it and when she obliged, I felt all grown up and special. It was an amazing feeling,” she recalls. However, it was only after some time that she finally got to wear a sari. “During a function in my school I was playing a character from Ramayana and I took a sari from my mother and completely destroyed it but she was very generous about it,” says the fashionista who can be seen wrapped up in the six yards everywhere — from the airport, to the red carpet, including at Cannes.
However, the actor regretted discovering the sari much later in life. “Unfortunately the sari was not very popular in Garhwal. “It was only when I travelled a lot that I saw different attires and silhouettes. I discovered these as an artist and realised that structured garments are only for sometime. As a woman, when you discover your freedom, you start to love the sari and come to terms with the six yards of the fabric,” she said.
To a large extent it is the dichotomy that the sari offers that has the actor enthralled. “For the longest time, I could not understand whether the sari was a conservative attire or was it sensual because it very delicately covers your curves. You can expose your back or cover your head and look like a goddess. The possibilities of the sari is what attracted me as an artist,” she said dressed in a Banarsi.
What also added to the appeal was the numerous possibilities that the garment offers. “A sari could be 50 years old as you have inherited it from your grandmother but it could be new because of your expression. You can wear it like like a skirt and tie the pallu around your waist or you can let it drag behind like a trail as in a gown. You can decide if you want to look sensual or demure,” she said and added that sari was like poetry so that all the different forms of a woman whether it is a mother daughter, sister, achiever or a friend find expression in it. “It is thousands of years old and a very sophisticated expression of your personality. What I am wearing is what was worn 5,000 years ago and we have the responsibility, towards this great piece of art, to pass it on to the generation that comes after us,” she said.
While social media hashtags have promoted the garment, it has not had the desired result, feels Ranaut as a lot of weavers are still suffering while many of the handicrafts are disappearing. “These were traditionally passed on from one generation to another but as these are not doing well, this is not happening.”
Kangana believes that the sari is a really versatile garment. “It can be paired with sneakers, worn at the airport, or while going out with friends for a brunch. The traditional sari is the most popular during pujas and weddings but it does not have to be restricted to these occasions. What I love about the sari is that it makes me completely feminine and also, it is a combination of Egyptian gown meets skirt meets beautiful drape,” said the actor who has about 40-50 saris in her wardrobe, most of them acquired over the last four to five years.
Photo: Pankaj Kumar
