Tolly women’s fave traditional Bengali looks on screen

From black & white films and contemporary cinema to OTT – the quintessential Bengali saaj has been a hit on screen. On Akshaya Tritiya today, heroines pick their favourites
Satyajit Ray’s Charulata amazes us with its costume and jewellery: Rituparna Sengupta

Besides reflecting the femininity of a character in films, jewellery also raises the bar of beauty for a woman by several notches. It brings warmth and adds a genuine charm on screen. When it comes to Satyajit Ray’s films, every corner, every aspect of his frames becomes an important lesson for film studies. Charulata is iconic for a number of reasons. But besides being a great film, Charulata amazes us with its costume and jewellery. Charu is lonely and elegant. She wears this simple dangler and a chain that reflects sophistication and femininity. Charulata sets the bar very high in terms of aesthetics. The jewellery that Ray used in the film accentuated the expressions of Charu.
I loved my look with beautiful brooches i wore in a web series: Paoli

Talking about jewellery used in films, the first image that comes to my mind is of Satyajit Ray’s Monihara, Teen Kanya. Jewellery, along with other props, has often been used to represent a specific era in a film – and the same was done in Bulbbul. A lot of research went into selecting the jewellery we wore. Director Anvita Dutt herself has an impeccable sense of styling. She led a very able team that picked the right pieces for the show. I really liked how they used the brooch. Unlike earrings, necklaces and bracelets, the brooch is not exactly an Indian piece of jewellery, but given our country’s colonial history, it became an integral part of our jewellery boxes. I wore beautiful brooches and loved the overall look of my character.
Aishwarya’s bridal look in chokher bali has to be my all-time fave: Raima Sen

Rituparno Ghosh curated both Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s and my look in Chokher Bali. Aishwarya looked beautiful as Binodini in the film. The scene where she is decked up as a bride in a red Benarasi with paan pata in front of her face has to be my all-time favourite. Her gold tiara with a butterfly design looked magnificent and so did the gold nath (nose ring) with a pearl drop. The gold jhumkas with paati haar too went really well with her look. Most of the jewellery that we wore in the film was of filigree design. The traditional pieces in the scene where Binodini wears all my jewellery to woo Behari looked fantastic. A lot of temple jewellery, mob chains, bala and kanbala in gold were used to create the stunning looks. My character Ashalata used to wear a nose ring throughout the film, and I am still in love with that.
From ethnic outfits to jewellery, I loved vidya’s looks in Parineeta: Subhashree Ganguly

Vidya Balan’s look as singer Lalita in Parineeta will be etched on my mind forever. The ethnic outfits she wore exuded elegance and I loved her jewellery in traditional designs. She looked ethereal in one of the scenes where she wore an embellished pink sari with a half-sleeved matching blouse and just a pendant. The jewellery was minimalist, elegant and classy. I also loved her look in the marriage scene where she wore a Benarasi sari with traditional jewellery. One of my favourite looks is in the scene where Vidya wore a red silk sari in old Bengali style with her pallu in intricate patterns neatly pleated over her shoulder and styled with a
half-sleeved printed blouse. The gold jhumkas in antique design, red-golden bangles and the matar haar with the sari enhanced
her look. Her gold kanpasha and konkon bangles were high on Bangaliana.