: Happy singh has never been a hero. How could he, with that name and that goofy grin, especially when Bollywood’s idea of machismo is clean-shaven good looks? Unless, of course, Happy Singh is Akshay Kumar and has a designer who can stud the turban from Jalandhar with sex appeal and Swarovski crystals.
“When the director told me that the hero is a sardar, for a moment I was a little hesitant. But then I knew it was Akshay, and that whatever I did, he would make it look good. So I just went ahead and gave it my best shot,” says Shabinaa Khan, Kumar’s stylist in Anees Bazmi’s Singh is Kinng.
The victory of a man in a blue turban last month has made the title track of this film, Singh is King, something of a chant in north India. The trailers featuring an oh-so-hot Kumar have helped. Says designer Ritu Beri, “Look at the way he is carrying off the role of a sardar. I don’t think I have seen a more handsome sardar in recent times,” she laughs.
There are two distinctive looks for Kumar in the film. In the first half, he plays a village bumpkin who goofs up every job, and in the second, a suave underworld don look-alike.
Khan, who has worked with Kumar for the last two years for movies like Namaste London, Heyy Baby, Bhool Bhulaiya and parts of Bhagam Bhag, sourced outfits from unlikely places. “In the first half, Akshay is wearing stuff that women do. Pastel shades with paisleys and floral prints. But we cut the kurtas like pathanis to give him a manly silhouette,” says Khan.
In the second half, Kumar wears slick over-jackets, formals with trousers cut to the knees, edgy colours offset with just the right accessories. You see a Burberry gold, long jacket in the promotional shot that is fresh off the label’s latest collection. If rumours are anything to go by, millionaire hotelier Vikram Chhatwal has inspired the look. “Well, he was the first person who came to our mind when Akshay and I were brainstorming about the look,” says Khan. So, Kumar’s simple pagdi gets a Swarovski makeover with colourful diamante studs while the austerity of formal attires is toned down by trimming the trousers at the knee, almost like capris. It’s a look that has captured the imagination of fashionistas.
