Fun, quirky, bold...These are some of the descriptions for actor Sara Ali Khan’s outfit, a pink saree with 54 truck motifs, that she flaunted at The Global Citizen Concert Mumbai chapter, which was held recently. Created by Madhurya Creations, a Bengaluru-based boutique, the actor was at the 24-hour-long music festival, along with other actors like Ananya Panday, Janhvi Kapoor, Dia Mirza and Arjun Kapoor.
What makes the saree much talked about are the 54 truck motifs scattered all over it. Some of the motifs that one can easily spot are a peacock and an autorickshaw. Along with slogans like ‘Thand rakh’ or ‘Keep calm and do aram’, the saree is a vibrant piece.
“Sara is quite popular among the youth and her wardrobe has always been young and experimental which her fans have always loved. She has been someone who has always carried both western and traditional outfits with the same kind of ease,” says Bharathy Harish, co-ordinator for Madhurya Creations. Considering her willingness to experiment, the boutique decided to create something that brings the best of both worlds.
Made of crepe silk, the saree’s anchal has ‘Mere paas maa hai’ printed on it, the famous line from the movie Deewar, starring Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor, that released in 1975. “The saree has graffiti that is mostly found on Indian trucks; this particular dialogue is one of the more popular sentences that could be found,” she says, adding that they wanted to use motifs that were found on Indian trucks. Talking about other fun facts about the saree, Harish mentions the piece involved about 440 hours of hand embroidery. “There is bead and zardosi work throughout the body,” she says. Keeping with the desi-ness of the saree, they used bright colours with Hindi text.
Khan, styled by Ami Patel – the go-to stylist for Bollywood A-listers like Priyanka Chopra, Alia Bhatt, Madhuri Dixit–teamed the saree up with a pink satin sleeveless blouse with latkans attached to the tie-detail at the back. With minimal make-up, she completed the look with a blue bindhi and traditional silver jhumkas.
“The saree was customised with Sara in mind, keeping it fun and vibrant in terms of the colours and motifs that she represents,” says Patel, adding, “And having seen her relationship with her mother as really special, we thought of going with the slogan ‘Mere paas maa hai’.” But why a saree? Patel says, “Sarees symbolise old-school charm and all these things have a certain strength to them which are very underrated.”