Rick Roy with Humaima Malik
Rick Roy with Humaima Malik

Even though he may not be a household name (“I’m too shy to be out there and in your face”, he confesses), costume designer Rick Roy has done a sizeable amount of work in Bollywood and reveals that he prefers to let his work, “Speak for itself!”

Having designed costumes for well-known films like Joker, Jannat 2, Inkaar and Himmatwalla in the past, Rick’s designs will next been seen on the big screen on Emraan Hashmi, Humaima Malik and Paresh Rawal in Raja Natwarlal which releases on August 29th 2014.

In an exclusive conversation with Team MissMalini, Rick Roy, discusses the look he planned for the stars and even shares some exclusive sketches from his sketch pad.

Emraan Hashmi
Emraan Hashmi

Team MissMalini: What is the storyline of Raja Natwarlal?

Rick Roy: The story revolves around a conman played by Emraan Hashmi, who is out to seek revenge because his partner in crime gets killed. Humaima Malik plays the role of a bar dancer and expectedly, she is his love interest.

Team MM: How is Emraan’s conman look different from those we have already seen on the big screen in Bollywood?

RR: First of all, the director Kunal Deshmukh told me that he didn’t want the look to be too dark. He didn’t want Emraan’s look to be gritty. In fact, I was specifically told that the clothes must stand out. They should be clothes that people could relate to.

Kunal wanted a flashy look because Emraan’s character uses his flashy demeanour to impress people. Hence, the flashy look is important to the script. He dresses up to look cool and also to impress the character played by Humaima.

Humaima Malik
Humaima Malik
Emraan Hashmi and Humaima Malik
Emraan Hashmi and Humaima Malik

Team MM: What about Humaima’s bar girl look? How is that different?

RR: Again, Kunal didn’t want the kind of raw, real-life look which you saw in films like Chandini Bar. He wanted Humaima’s character to look super glam and not tacky. Getting that perfect balance was tricky but since she’s so incredibly beautiful, just about everything I dressed her in looked fabulous on her.

You’ll see her wearing long flowing skirts and deep-cut cholis but they are not overtly bling like one sees the girls wearing in actual dance bars.

Costume sketches by Rick Roy
Costume sketches by Rick Roy
Costume sketches by Rick Roy
Costume sketches by Rick Roy

Team MM: Tell us about a fun anecdote from the sets.

RR: The look for Emraan was in my head and I knew exactly how I wanted the shirts to be done, along with the matching glares. But I wasn’t getting the exact references to show Kunal. So what I did was that I made a sample of the shirt, bought the right accessories I wanted including the matching glares and boots. Then, I personally wore it all, exactly the way I wanted Raja to look on screen and I came for a meeting to the production office. Everyone was the conference room and I just walked in, all blinged out, and told them that this is the look I want for Raja in the movie.

No prizes for guessing that they all burst in to laughter. They literally cracked up. Of course, they loved the look and  approved everything instantly.

Costume sketches by Rick Roy
Costume sketches by Rick Roy
Costume sketches by Rick Roy
Costume sketches by Rick Roy

Team MM: What about Paresh Rawal’s styling for the film?

RR: He plays the role of a man from the mountains and hence, the best part was going all the way to Dharamshala to shop for his look from the locals. Unfortunately, we don’t have any promotional stills of him t share with your readers but when you see the film, you will totally identify with his look.

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