Dressing up Hollywood stars Sylvester Stallone and Brandon Routh was the most fabulous experience of her career and she is floored by their humility, says Indian celebrity designer Shabina Khan.
“It was fabulous designing for Sylvester Stallone and Brandon Routh (of ‘Superman’ fame). It was my finest experience. They are professionals and did whatever I asked them to do. Apart from designing for them, what I learnt from them was how to be humble. Both of them are extremely down to earth,” Khan told IANS over phone from Mumbai.
Stallone and Routh are making special appearances in producer Sajid Nadiadwala’s “Kambhakkt Ishq”, a film about an Indian stuntman who takes Hollywood by storm but cannot find true love.
“As both of them were playing themselves in the film, what I had kept in my mind while designing for them was how people dress up in Hollywood. Since most were action sequences, I gave them more of cargos, hoodies (T-shirts with hoods) and tight T-shirts,” she said.
Directed by debutant Sabbir Khan, the film has Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor in lead roles. Akshay plays Routh’s body double in the actioner.
Shabina Khan also designed Akshay’s clothes and said the filmmaker didn’t want anything “conventional” for him.
“The director wanted a macho look for Akshay but not the ‘ganjis’ and tight T-shirts. So I created a new trendy look for him. I gave him tight cargos, waistcoats, boots and scarves,” she explained.
Starting in 1988, Khan has worked as a designer for more than 30 films, including “Hum Aapke Hain Koun?”, “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam”, “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai” and “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham”.
“I started designing for Salman Khan initially. Both of us were in the same college. I designed for him for 13 years,” said Khan who has also dressed stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Madhuri Dixit.
She considers Akshay and Kareena the best dressed Bollywood celebrities.
“Anything and everything looks good on Akshay. He has a perfect body and a perfect face. He can carry anything off. Kareena is very versatile. Whether it’s Indian or Western she can carry both with elan and look stunning,” she said.
Khan’s forthcoming projects are Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Chenab Gandhi”, Vipul Shah’s “Action Replay”, Sajid Nadiadwala’s “Housefull” and Priyadarshan’s “De Dhana Dhan” among which two are period films.
“‘Chenab Gandhi’ is a period film. Since ‘Action Replay’ starring Akshay and Aishwarya (Rai) is set in the 1970s, I consider that a period film as well,” she said.
“It is extremely difficult to design for a period film. You have to be accurate with your homework because if you miss anything, you’ll completely mess up. Therefore, at the pre-production level, a lot has to be done,” she said.
It was none other than Salman Khan who gave Kareena Kapoor a piece of advice regarding her weight.
