EXCLUSIVE: Rajinikanth is like a blank canvas; you give him anything and he transforms: 2.0 costume designer

Rocky Star, the costume designer of 2.0, speaks in detail about what went behind creating the larger than life costumes.

By Avantika Gupta

Updated on Nov 30, 2018 | 02:54 PM IST | 443K

The much awaited film, 2.0 has finally hit the theatres and fans just can’t keep calm. The movie stars the God of Indian cinema, Rajinikanth, superstar Akshay Kumar and is directed by living maestro Shankar. The movie has been the talk of the town for over 2 years now for its phenomenal cast and its gripping larger than life appeal. Pinkvilla got in touch with the supremely talented fashion designer, Rocky Star. Rocky has over 350 films to his credit and is widely known for putting his heart and soul in whichever project he takes up, big or small. In a detailed conversation, he spoke to us about the journey of the film, how much time did it take for him to create the costumes, how was it working with the entire cast and more.

PinkVilla: Before starting off with this humongous project, what was the brief that was given to you?

Rocky Star: Well for me, I had worked very briefly with Shankar Sir. I had done a song with Yana Gupta years ago and he really loved it. Before starting this project, he requested me if he could meet me and I had no clue what it was. I went for the meeting and he explained me the project and i just said that “Sir, I’m on board no matter what.” Firstly, it was a great opportunity for me to work with a legend like Rajnikant Sir. Secondly, a project like this is quite challenging yet exciting for me. Ofcourse, the entire script was shared with me, Shankar Sir had his own vision of how his characters should look as each of them have different shades to themselves throughout the film.

PV: What was your inspiration for creating and sketching out the costumes for each character for the film 2.0?

RS: Honestly, the director had a really strong vision of how he wanted his characters to look. He had already done a lot of homework. He gave me a good 6 months of preparation time, wherein I was sketching out the characters which had different layers to them, the colours most suitable to them. I actually went to and fro Chennai to show them to Shankar Sir and we froze certain looks and colours. I even travelled to London and a couple of places to source special fabrics. So, all in all, it was quite an exciting journey before the movie started itself.

PV: Did Akshay Kumar or Rajinikanth have any inputs when you were creating or sketching out those looks?

RS: You know when it comes to Shankar Sir, no one can say anything. But we did a lot of homework for Rajini Sir, Akshay and Amy Jackson; so, our homework was so perfect that there wasn’t much left for them to give us any inputs. All the three came alive when they wore the clothes, got into the skin of the character. Rajini Sir is like a blank canvas, so you give him the outfit and he transforms into that character. It was truly amazing to work with him.

PV: How was it like working with a legend like Rajinikanth? Did he have any reservations towards the look?

RS: Rajini Sir is a pleasure to work with. He is so down to earth, so humble and he just believed in what I was giving him. Not even once did he question that why am I wearing this because once he gives somebody the responsibility, he trusts that person 100%. Even with Akshay Kumar, both of them were so good as actors, and for as a stylist, it was an absolute pleasure to work with both of them.

PV: Which was your personal favourite look from the film?

RS: My personal favourite definitely has to be the climax outfit which Akshay is wearing. It is quite a long scene where we specially created this leather outfit which was distressed and burned; it also had a lot of detailing on it. In fact, we actually made 5-6 versions of it before we even finalised on that. The original one was made into 3-5 copies because there was a lot of action and a lot of changes were required in that scene. That was a very special outfit because he transforms from a normal person to a bird.

PV: We see a lot of elaborate head-gears and accessories used in the costume too..

RS:Yeah! There was actually a special team which had come down from Los Angeles for the makeup and special looks. So it was all created there and brought to Chennai for the shoot. Akshay would take almost 4-5 hours to put his makeup and hair. So we would wake up at 5 am for a 10 am shoot, almost everyday. It’s not just me but a complete team effort that has gone for the creation of the looks.

PV: In totality, how much time did you take to create the entire look of all the characters of the film?

RS: Don’t ask me about the time *laughs*. Even after doing 350 movies, this has been my longest project till date. It took a good 2 and a half years to get it done, and I would be in Chennai every 15 days in a month for over 2 years. I learnt a lot from everybody, especially Shankar Sir and it was a great experience to work on this project. It was extremely tedious and detailed, but you know, when you learn so much, you are always enjoying the moment.

The film has already seen a massive advance booking and has been received well across the country. 2.0 marks the Tamil debut of superstar Akshay Kumar and has broken quite a few records already.

Have you watched the film? What were your thoughts about the costume and styling? Comment below and let us know.