Devi Chowdhurani: Bandit Queen of Bengal by Subhrajit Mitra just revealed the look of its characters. Mitra’s brilliant research, screenplay, dialogue, production design, and direction have yet again turned this Bengal icon into an anticipated watch on screen. While the look has been designed by Somnath Kundu the costumes are credited to Poulami Gupta.
Srabanti as Profullo / Devi Chowdhurani
Helming the lead is Srabanti Chatterjee who plays the role of Profullo / Devi Chowdhurani. She has two distinct looks in the movie. Devi has an elaborate organically weaved and dyed costume in different shades of Red and Brown along with rudraksha, and tilak, carrying a bow and arrow made of bamboo and jute. Her shoes are customised and leg protectors made of jute and tree barks are worn by her. She also carries a sword, daggers scabbards and wears her sari in way that makes it easier to mount horses. Since women were not used to wearing blouses back then, she adorns an Angrakha. She also wears her shankha pola and vermilions which are signs of a married woman.
Her Profullo look on the other hand wears gold jewellery in accordance with the time period along with benarasi hand weaved sari and when she is abandoned by her in-laws sometime after the Bengal famine of 1770 the signs of poverty are well reflected in her attire.
Arjun Chakrabarty as Rangaraj
Chakrabarty plays Rangaraj who is a warrior monk belonging to the Dashnami sect. Mostly bare-bodied with a dhoti for easy movement, he also displays signs of old wounds throughout the body.
Bibriti Chatterjee as Nishi
Playing a tribal warrior, Bibriti is fierce. She wears cotton hand-weaved saris with jute body armour. Her eyes are also mysteriously green and one needs to see the movie to know more about her character’s persona.
Sabyasachi Chakrabarty as Zamindar Haraballav Roy
Inspired by Raja Ram Mohan Roy, his attire reflects Bengal elitism in this period drama. A mix of Nawabi and Mughal influence, his costumes exuberate fine muslin, silk and cotton with embroideries. As the Zaminder is a grey character, the costumes are in shades of grey, brown and chocolate.
Darshana Banik as Sagar
Wearing a Baluchori Sari with Geet Govindam embroidered in gold all over signifies happiness, joy, hope, and imagination. She also wears custom-made Joroa and gold jewellery. The base colour of her look is yellow which emanates contentment.
Kinjal Nanda as Brojeswar Roy
Wearing hand-woven and embroidered Bengal silk, Kinjal’s attire is a ceremonial get-up along with a headgear. His clothes too have a Mughal and North Indian influence with lots of period jewellery. Since his character is very positive it reflects in shades of white, cream, and yellow with a touch of regal red to it.
The film also stars Prosenjit Chatterjee, whose look is yet to be revealed.