Actor Prateik Babbar made a style statement as he attended the Mumbai screening of his late mother Smita Patil’s film Manthan. Now, it has been revealed that he wore a suit-pant made from her Kanjeevaram sarees. (Also Read: Prateik Babbar says Smita Patil was untrained during Manthan: ‘Will never stop striving to be like her’)
This fashionable outfit was designed by Rahul Vijay and the designer shared details about the outfit through an Instagram post.
A blend of tradition and contemporary style
Rahul took to social media to thank Prateik for giving him the opportunity to create this masterpiece.
Sharing the process of creating the outfit, she wrote, “Thank you @_prat for giving me the opportunity to delve into the archives of your late mother and the very iconic #SmitaPatil. When Prateik called me to dress him for the Indian premiere of #Manthan, #SmitaPatil’s first film which was recently screened at the Cannes Film Festival, I knew I had to bring elements of Smita Patil’s style into his look.”
He added, “It was challenging because we were getting clothes for women and moreover we didn’t know what we would get from Smita Patil’s wardrobe that would match Prateik’s style.”
Rahul said that Prateik’s aunt helped him select two silk Kanjivaram saris that had been preserved for years. His idea was to combine Indian textiles with modern silhouettes, and he designed the outfit after consulting Monika Shah of Z By MK.
He created a cropped double-breasted tuxedo in plain black silk, adapting the pinstripe pattern of one sari into wide-legged pants. The red border of the other sari was used for the sleeves, which added a touch of elegance to the ensemble.
“We wanted to keep the silhouette very modern as we recycled Indian saris. I always love the combination of Indian textiles on a modern silhouette. And finally we decided on a cropped double breasted tuxedo in plain black silk and we recycled another pinstriped sari into wide legged pants and used the red border of the sari as trim on the sleeves (the design was taken from a recent look done by the brand for their couture collection),” wrote Rahul.
He added, “Sustainable fashion with an emotional connect, this look has it all! Thank you to everyone at Zed who was involved in this project and my amazing team @disha_punjabi and @simranbhatia28. I never thought I would be able to recycle two saris into menswear.”
Priya Banerjee also added a personal touch to it
At the screening, Prateik was accompanied by his girlfriend and actress Priya Banerjee, who also added her personal touch to the outing. She wore Smita’s saree and her jewellery.
“Don’t know where to start but thank you @_prat for giving me the opportunity to wear your great mother’s beautiful saree and stunning jewellery and trusting me to do justice to it. My heart is filled with so much gratitude,” she wrote on Instagram.
Giving a look at the story behind the saree, she wrote, “The name of this saree is Tanchoi. Smita maa did the film “Dard ka Rishta” for Nargis Dutt Cancer Foundation and a huge crowd had gathered for that event in USA… She wore this saree with a beautiful pallu in the front and she walked down each aisle holding the pallu in both her hands requesting people to donate.”
“It was an extraordinary gesture on her part to beg people to donate. What an amazing woman she was and I feel so honored to be even a small part of her legacy,” he said.
Churning in Cannes
The restored version of Shyam Benegal’s landmark film Manthan, starring late actress Smita, graced the Cannes Film Festival with its screening. The 1976 film, inspired by Dr Verghese Kurien’s groundbreaking milk cooperative movement that made India one of the world’s largest milk producers, was screened under the Cannes Classics segment.
Apart from Prateek, Naseeruddin Shah attended the screening with his wife Ratna Pathak Shah, Dr. Kurien’s daughter Nirmala Kurien and Amul MD Jayan Mehta. Film Heritage Foundation founder Shivendra Singh Dungarpur was also present. Film Heritage Foundation is a non-profit organization that is restoring this film.
