Tanishq rediscovers ancient Rajasthani and Turkish jewellery for its Padmavati collection

Deepika Padukone’s first look as Rani Padmavati in the upcoming Sanjay Leela Bansali’s epic Padmavati sent fans on social media into a frenzy and how. With over 197 million views in 24 hours, the trailer earned the spot of the fastest-viewed Hindi trailer on YouTube. Though the movie may have run into controversy, audiences have not stopped talking about the aesthetics and visualisation involved, with all eyes on Deepika and her portrayal of the fabled title character in all her regal beauty. Having roped in Tanishq to recreate the jewellery of the Rajputs (Shahid Kapoor and Deepika Padukone) and the Khalji dynasty (Ranveer Singh), 1,500 pieces of jewellery were handcrafted for the Sanjay Leela Bansali production over a period of 600 days, with 200 karigars working on 500 kg of gold. 
As the Padmavati-inspired collection hit stores earlier this month, Bengaluru-based Revathi Kant, Associate Vice President, Design, Innovation & Development, Titan Company Limited tells us about the makings of the on-screen collection. 

Could you explain the design process involved in the creation of the collection?
Our design team had multiple rounds of discussions with the director —  Bhansali, to get his vision right. After several rounds of brainstorming over intricate details — including naths (nose rings), bangles, chokers, necklaces, finger rings, arsi finger rings, armlets, jhumkis, earrings, septum naths, and borlas — the jewellery specific to each character was defined. Padmavati was a high energy, high-intensity project. 
 
Points of reference for the collection.
The story of Padmavati is from the 12-13th Century and the lifestyle of that era was recorded in the form of temples, sculptures, paintings and poems. Due to various invasions/wars and natural calamities, very few such records have survived. To stay true to that era, we visited temples, museums and read through history books and old jewellery books. Few well-known and established families of Rajasthan also showcased their private jewellery collection. 
We also read about the Turkish empire and their jewellery. Since the Khalji dynasty entered India via Afghanistan, we researched upon Afghani jewellery and culture as well.  Since Queen Padmavati was a Sinhala princess, we also studied the Southern culture and jewellery and the Buddhist influence in that era.

What are the types of detailing and techniques that have gone into its making?
We have mostly used gold as the base metal for the jewellery. Silver has been used for Afghani and Turkish Jewellery. Miniature paintings and stone inlay work in a combination of Kundan setting has given this line of jewellery a very unique, old world charm. In terms of gold technique, we have used a lot of age-old traditional sheet work with reva, wire, partaj, chitai with meenakari work. We have also revived old styles such as moti ki gheri where thousands of tiny pearl piroi called moti ghungris are used to create the ornament.

Different characters, themes and occasions demand different types of jewellery. Could you elucidate the different lines that were created?
For the Rajputs (Deepika and Shahid) the jewellery was inspired from Rajput Kundan Jewellery. This was an era where polki, gemstones such as emerald, rubies and pearls were considered valuable and hence you will see lots of gemstone oriented Kundan jewellery. This is very different from the current all white polki Kundan jewellery trend. 
We have also used lots of Basra pearls and created a differentiated style of the traditional Rajasthani aad (choker), motijaal earrings and double jhumkis for Rani Padmavati. For Padmavati as the Sinhala princess, her jewellery is minimalistic but has heavy gold workmanship.Gemstones like pearls and corals and turquoise were used to depict the Sinhala royal family.
For Rawal Ratan Singh (Shahid’s character) we created jewellery with big gemstones being the focal point. 
Alauddin Khilji’s jewellery is inspired mainly by the jewellery worn by warriors of Turkey and Afghanistan. Mehru (Aditi Rao Hydari’s character) being a princess, we took inspiration from Turkish royal jewellery. 

Most notable pieces.
An ornate necklace that weighs about 250 grams is worn by Deepika in one of the most iconic scenes in the movie. Other notable pieces include an aad — a traditional necklace that is styled in the form of a choker. For the Padmavati collection, Tanishq’s design team has also attempted a mean feat by designing and creating a triple borla. 

While the pieces from the movie may not yet be available to public, the brand has recreated the entire collection for stores which is priced at Rs 75,000 onwards. At Tanishq. Details: 4374415