Priyanka Chopra's dual look in Zanjeer
Priyanka Chopra and Ram Charan Teja in Zanjeer
The shooting for the remake of the 1973 smash hit Zanjeer is in full swing. While South Indian star Ram Charan Teja enacts the role immortalised by Amitabh Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra plays the female lead in the film. Unlike Jaya Bachchan in the original though, she doesn't play a knife thrower, but a modern entrepreneur. Fashion designer Pria Kataria Puri for whom designing for an actress is a first, has designed two distinct looks for Chopra's character in the film.
"In the first half of Zanjeer when she's abroad, Priyanka would be dressed as a woman entrepreneur should be dressed. You see, in today's times, a working woman from India doesn't stand out at the airport. She looks like any chic well-dressed woman from any part of the world," said Puri to NDTV.
"Later, when Priyanka's character comes to India, she gets more colourful in her sartorial expression. You would notice that even when an Indian girl in India dresses in western clothes, there is a dash of Indianness in her clothes. She may wear shorts, but it would be orange in colour. Priyanka's clothes would reflect her changed geo-political mindset," she added.
Incidentally, Puri and Chopra's character in the film share a similar background.
"Like Priyanka's Mala in Zanjeer, I am an NRI working out of a foreign country. So I instinctively understand the clothes that Priyanka should wear. I often see actresses in our clothes looking wow. But they don't seem to be dressed in character."
Puri only agreed to do Zanjeer after she got a bound script from director Apoorva Lakhia.
"I insisted on a bound script which I never got. Zanjeer is the first film I've said yes to. One of the reasons is the director Apoorva Lakhia, who' a friend. The other reason is Priyanka Chopra, who according to me, is the most international actress from Bollywood.
"She can carry off any look. She understands clothes, and she knows so much about fabric! I was amazed by her knowledge and her ability to put forward her thoughts on how her character must dress. We were instantly on the same page when we met."
Along with Chopra and Ram Charan, Zanjeer also stars Sanjay Dutt, Prakash Raj and Mahi Gill. It is tentatively due to release in May.