For God’s Sake

How do you style God? Ask Raghavendra Rathore who designed for Akshay Kumar's character of a modern Lord Krishna in the recent OMG Oh My God!

If you are a fussy moviegoer who frets about your cinema hall seat too much, and whether the popcorn is buttery enough or the Coke chilled, even as a film has begun to roll, it is likely you will miss the credits that Akshay Kumar's costumes in Umesh Shukla's recent film OMG Oh My God! were by Raghavendra Rathore. But as soon as Kumar — who plays Krishna Vasudev Yadav — makes his entry, his deep blue flowing jacket with gold buttons, worn with Jodhpurs and a white shirt alerts you to the sharp RR signature.

"It was like a call from heaven," says Rathore with a loud laugh. Given that he had never met Kumar in person, when Rathore received a call from the actor to design his clothes for the film, he was surprised. "I went to Mumbai to meet him personally, to understand the pace of the script and get a sense of the story," says Rathore. Since the film was produced by Kumar's own company, the actor took personal interest in the project, giving the designer a clear brief.

Rathore spent the initial months only researching the idea of God through clothes, also how God had been dressed in Western films with similar themes. He realised that the colour white (remember the white jackets in Bruce Almighty?) seemed omnipresent. But Kumar's character in OMG Oh My God! has several metaphysical nuances.

There are references to Christ, Paigambar and Sai Baba and, while Kumar plays Krishna, charioteer, mentor, friend and philosopher, who shows the way but not the destination; he also possesses a religious universality representing multiple religions. "So the clothes or accessories couldn't be simplistic," says Rathore.

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