Bollywood favourite, designer Neeta Lulla talks shop while in Dubai

Having worked on over 300 films, in a career that spans almost 30 years, Neeta Lulla is the grand dame of Indian film fashion. Her signature label, Neeta Lulla is known for its feminine and delicate take on traditional Indian wear, with Lahme, Devdas and Jodha Akbhar being the films she is most famous for. Like many other Indian designers, she is a frequent visitor to Dubai and was recently in town. Says the designer: "Dubai for me is a second home with friends and family here, I keep coming back. This time I was invited to attend the Ahlan Masala Awards for the Action Care Gala and the Dubai Air Show." She will probably be back before the year ends. Though she does not have a store here, she does retail out of multi brand outlets. "I mainly work with bridal and couture and I believe that brides travel to Mumbai to order their garments," says the designer.
Currently she is working on Ashutosh Gowarikar's Mohenjo Daro starring Hritik Roshan and Bollywood newcomer Pooja Hegde. A former runner up at Miss Indian Universe pageant Pooja hopes to follow in the footsteps of Deepika Padukone, Aishwarya Rai and Priyanka Chopra. Designing for models actors, is always a pleasure for costume designers and they know their fashion and have an understanding of how to make clothes look their best. Lulla says that Bollywood's current most stylish actor is Deepika as she has elegance, and always keeps things simple. Says the National Award winning costume designer, "Bollywood could become the style-setter today. They really understand fashion thanks to the advent of so many brands coming in many styles and options on garments and accessories are at close reach. Earlier every thing was customised with available fabrics and accessories. Another big change is that previously either the stars dressed and styled themselves or the designers styled them, today they have stylists."
Today Neeta has her own fashion school, The Whistling Wood International Neeta Lulla School of fashion. This too has its film connections as it is owned by director, producer and screenwriter, Subash Ghai. The duo has worked together on several films before including Ghai's most recent release, Kaanchi. Says Neeta, "I have been teaching fashion for the last 26 years. As an extension to my teaching I joined a venture which is part of Whistling Woods International that belongs to Ghai. It seems that Indian film industry really does see the fashion industry as an extension of their own business.