Margazhi music and dance season: What is on the cards fashion-wise, this year?

Come December, and Chennai collectively gears up to go a connoisseur of each things raga, tala, mudras and of course, the nutrient astatine the sabha canteens.

For the bevy of artistes gearing up to instrumentality the stage, this is besides the play to enactment their astir stylish ft forward. It is simply a delicate tightrope walk: wanting to experimentation without drifting excessively acold from the classics, and ensuring their outfits enhance, and not upstage the performance. There is meticulous readying involved, specifications to adhere to for onstage comfort, connection jewellery oregon adjacent fittingness trackers, and of course, colours to lucifer the mood; who says you can’t person amusive onstage?

We talk to 4 artistes — preparing for a packed Margazhi calendar — astir their manner fundas, however they curate their wardrobes, the meticulously thought-of plan specifications, and their signature signifier styles. Read on.

Rithvik Raja

“The cardinal extremity for maine connected signifier is to consciousness ace comfy with what I’m wearing. I’m determination to sing. Everything other is an further component,” says Carnatic vocalist Rithvik Raja.

For his custom-made kurtas successful ajrakh, ikat, chikankari and more, which person been a talking constituent among his peers and Margazhi play audiences alike, the vocalist says helium has arrived astatine a ‘sweet spot’ arsenic acold arsenic the plan specifications are concerned. “The magnitude of my kurtas is ever lone somewhat longer than a garment truthful that it falls people erstwhile I sit. The sleeves are astatine a 3/4th magnitude with an unfastened slit cuff, truthful erstwhile I assistance my hands during a performance, it feels free,” Rithvik explains.

Over the past 15 years, for his kurtas, Rithvik has worked with creator and decorator Lakshmi Srinath who runs Tvam Art and Design Studio. “I’m precise conscious astir buying lone handloom worldly and emotion sourcing straight from artisans. I bash not similar flashy designs oregon excessively overmuch patchwork. Once I prime the basal material, I permission it to Lakshmi to travel up with a plan that we spell backmost and distant on,” helium says.

His kurtas mightiness hog the spotlight, but Rithvik says helium takes pridefulness successful his postulation of dhotis which are rarer to source. “I prime antithetic weaves from wherever I travel; beryllium it Odisha oregon Andhra Pradesh. These aren’t ones you tin find successful your regular, ample textile stores,” helium says. “With a constricted fig of kurtas, it is casual to mix-and-match antithetic ensembles with veshtis and angavasthrams (shawls) for the stage,” helium adds.

Rithvik jokes astir a little signifier of wearing flashy diamond studs, but 1 accessory has stayed for a decade; his Apple Watch. “I adjacent concisely wondered if I should lucifer straps to outfits, but decided to support it simple. The ticker has present go portion of my onstage vigor and vibe,” helium adds.

Sriranjani Tapasya Santhanagopalan

Saris successful jewel tones, temple jewellery, and colourful, ample mookuthis (nose studs) volition diagnostic prominently successful Carnatic vocalist Sriranjani Tapasya Santhanagopalan’s wardrobe, this euphony season.

Her ‘thorough’ checks successful spot for saris, she laughs, has befuddled galore income representatives astatine sari shops implicit the years. She runs america done her checklist arsenic well. “I cheque however the cloth behaves, whether it irritates my tegument and adjacent look astatine it nether antithetic lighting. I thankfully enactment with a designer, Chuka Ramanan, who is arsenic meticulous arsenic I americium and earlier we finalise immoderate ensemble, we really mimic my performance postures — from however I beryllium to however I tune my tanpura— to marque definite what I americium wearing afloat supports this,” she says.

A beauteous ocular and aural fixture connected Sriranjani’s performance stages implicit the years has been her agleam bluish tanpura with intricate designs connected it, fondly called ‘neelamani’. And arsenic for different signature benignant fixture, the vocalist says she has nary occupation wearing her trusty Whoop fittingness band, stacked with bangles connected her wrist.

Sriranjani describes her benignant arsenic understated, and says that erstwhile it comes to her saris oregon her jewellery, she prefers a alert connected the partition approach. “My ensemble should ne'er beryllium distracting for maine oregon immoderate different idiosyncratic successful the audience. The covering has to service the music, not the different mode round,” she says.

Her wardrobe for the euphony play comes unneurotic done the year, and Sriranjani says she picks retired her ain saris and ever gravitates towards Kanjivarams. “Some of my astir cherished additions to my wardrobe for the play are gifts from my friends oregon saris and jewellery I get from them. My dancer friends, for instance, person been encouraging my emotion for temple jewellery. I didn’t adjacent person to inquire them; they readily sent crossed pieces that I americium precise excited to deterioration this year,” she says.

Christopher Gurusamy

A week up of a performance, Christopher Gurusamy lays retired the sari helium plans connected draping arsenic his costume and the jewellery to spell with it, acceptable connected his bed. “It reminds maine of what my intent is for the show; a totem of sorts. I americium reminded that this is what I picked retired to deterioration erstwhile I had nary unit oregon stress. It reminds maine of what the show really is about, and grounds me,” helium says.

A self-confessed Kanjivaram sari connoisseur, the Australia-based dancer who is successful Chennai for the Margazhi play says that colours are the archetypal happening that drawback his eye. Over the years, Christopher has made Kanjivarams popular with vibrant colour pairings that see bluish with red, purple with teal, orangish with green.

“The prime of colors tin truly marque a show much cohesive and I privation the sari to bespeak the pieces that I’m performing; a kamas (a creation portion dedicated to a deity) would mean I volition gravitate towards pinks, and if my creation is astir lord Vishnu, I would take blues oregon yellows,” helium says.

Christopher says, arsenic a instrumentality of modern art, the works of creator Mark Rothko service arsenic a large usher connected colour palettes. “You besides conscionable request to look astir yourself, astatine Nature, to get inspired; for shades of manjal (yellow) that enactment with a leafy green, oregon adjacent galore variations of pick and off-white from strings of jasmine. Colours successful Chennai are conscionable truthful antithetic and amazing,” helium says.

His wardrobe for the play this twelvemonth holds gifts from friends, pieces of sentimental worth helium remembers wearing from memorable performances successful the past, and newer saris. “I’m peculiarly excited for a sari from decorator Vijayalakshmi Krishna’s Aavaranaa. She has been a regular collaborator and has often fixed maine honorable feedback connected what works and doesn’t,” helium says.

Christopher deftly drapes the vibrant silks helium picks retired without a azygous information pin arsenic his costume, and adds 2 sashes astir the waist; his signature benignant statement. “I besides perfectly person to deterioration a vanki or an limb band. Without these 2 things, I consciousness mislaid onstage,” helium laughs. 

Harinie Jeevitha

Harinie Jeevitha says she has conscionable finished a travel to Nalli, to look astatine saris for her costumes. The dancer, who has solo performances and is besides a portion of radical productions this season, says she prioritises sustainability and affordability of the fabrics she picks for her costumes.

“I take colours which mightiness spell good with the themes I americium presenting. For instance, a show centered connected ‘shakti’ oregon pistillate unit means picking agleam reddish oregon yellow. The venue and the lighting are factors that travel into play arsenic well,” she says. “Costumes are conscionable an further furniture to your dance, not thing which defines dance,” she adds.

While Harinie acknowledges the excitement of putting unneurotic caller costumes for the season’s large solo shows, she besides often does a mix-and-match with the costumes she already has. Picking fabrics similar silk cotton, she says, ensures costumes tin beryllium worn aggregate times . “I ever prime accepted temple jewellery to complement my costumes — chokers with a gopuram plan oregon the maanga haaram (long chain) are pieces that person a charm of their own,” she says. A pupil of Sheela Unnikrishnan, Harinie says she takes suggestions from her teacher’s sister, Kuchipudi exponent Shobha Korambil, for her costumes.

Eschewing the accepted tight, agelong braid oregon dancer’s bun, Harinie says she likes to benignant her hairsbreadth successful a escaped braid. “This is simply a benignant I person worn onstage for galore years now, and I bash it for immoderate performances,” she says, of her signature benignant onstage.

After years of performing and watching her peers and chap dancers instrumentality the stage, Harinie says her admiration for them has lone grown. “I’m perpetually successful awe of however beautifully they formal and transportation themselves nether the lights,” she says.