Begum 3.0

For over a year, the buzz around the wedding of Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan has kept us engaged, with enough speculation around the date, the clothes, the guest list, even the ifs and the buts. As the month of wedding approaches (it's October), the bride's outfit is up for fittings. Kareena will wear the traditional joda that Saif's mother, actor and Begum of Pataudi, Sharmila Tagore, wore on her wedding day, and veteran designer Ritu Kumar has reworked the vintage ensemble. The outfit was passed on to Tagore by her mother-in-law, Begum Sajida Sultan of Bhopal, who wore it for her wedding in 1939.The gold Benares fabric attire comprises a knee-length kurta with side slits and zardozi borders, a farshi pyjama, a rust and gold tissue dupatta with green satin gota and a heavy odhni. "The experience of reviving an old heirloom, such as the one belonging to the Bhopal family, was challenging. A few older craftspeople who understood the stitches and their use on three-dimensional surfaces were called in," reveals the designer. She adds that about 10-12 craftsmen worked on the garment for four months. Kumar has also designed gararas and lehengas for the groom's both sisters — Soha and Sabah.

Kumar adds, "The fabric was also woven on old naksha looms of Benaras to recreate an era gone by. The result was inspirational in its underplayed non-blingy avatar, which looked almost, if not equally, rich as the original."

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