Prashant Neel and Yash were very involved in the design until we cracked KGF's Rocky Bhai look: Saniya Sardhariya

Among the many things that team KGF: Chapter 2, led by director Prashant Neel and actor Yash, highlighted in the run-up to the film’s release, are the contributions of its technical team, be it the cinematography, art direction, etc. Prashant and Yash have been particular about showing these master craftsmen to the world. Yash has also been giving shout outs to a special lady in his life – Saniya Sardhariya – who has been his personal and official stylist for the last eight years and deserves credit for presenting him as KGF’s Rocky Bhai.

At the start of the conversation, though, Saniya says that she’s been reluctant to speak about her contribution to KGF: Chapter 2 because she is “small fish” in the big ocean that is KGF. But anyone who has seen the film will agree that Saniya is, no doubt, one of the bigger stars of the film, because her styling of Yash as Rocky Bhai is a major highlight.

In a chat with us, Saniya, a renowned stylist in Kannada film circles, who is also the wife of popular choreographer Imran Sardhariya, tells us more about her relationship with Yash. “I was introduced to Yash after working on two films with Radhika Pandit (his then girlfriend and now wife), Zoom and Endendigu, and have been his personal stylist since then, taking care of all his appearances – personal or public. If you see Yash at an awards show, ad shoot, or performing somewhere, I take care of his styling. In his personal life, what he wears on a day-to-day basis, his gym attire, or airport look, it’s all me,” says Saniya, who also styled the actor for his engagement and wedding. Having worked with Ganesh and the late Puneeth Rajkumar also for extended periods, Saniya adds that with Yash, her plate is always full because of how busy he keeps himself. “My life revolves around what is happening in his life,” she says.

The first film that she collaborated with Yash for was Santhu Straight Forward, which had Radhika in the lead. “There he was playing this boy-next-door cool kid. My work got a lot of appreciation. After which Yash referred me for KGF. I knew it would be a big deal and challenging because it was set in a different time period. I did not know there would be so much discipline in terms of filmmaking this project had to offer. For this film, we had to do a lot of research and create look books, a lot of detailing went into it. I had to have narrative over the costumes, because it had to tell the story. It couldn’t be misleading in any way. In Santhu Straight Forward, I had picked up a lot of store-bought items and just styled Yash; customization was only about 20%. In KGF, I could not find anything in a store, so right from designing the textile to treating the leather and getting the denim washes of the era, I had to bring back those techniques. I brought on board people who have worked in the textile industry in that phase, so that I could get those prints and create a wardrobe for Rocky Bhai in Chapter 1 and 2. In Chapter 1, although the mining uniform was the major look, there is an intro song, in which he changed some 10 leather jackets – all retro. The Mumbai vibe and the one when he travels to Bengaluru had to be different, so, there’s a lot of thought that’s gone into every look he sports - everything was story driven,” she explains.

Saniya says that having forged a bond with her team during KGF: Chapter 1, returning for Chapter 2 was a lot easier. “This time, my workload was massive. With Chapter 1, I had a breather because most of the film takes place in the mines. But here, his looks had to exude a lot of power. Rocky Bhai is now the most powerful and most wanted man in the country – a larger-than-life criminal. But at heart, he is Rocky, so, even when he is wearing the best suits, he is not like Bond, crisp and prim. I also had to keep in mind that even though the film was being presented as two chapters, it is one story, and the life of one person. If a henchman grows to become the most powerful don, he is still going to be the same person. His look couldn’t be too conflicting. We did a lot of look tests to go with the several outfits that you see in the film. I can’t take all the credit for this, because director Prashant (Neel) sir and Yash were very involved in the research process until we cracked the look. They did give me immense creative freedom in terms of what I wanted to bring to the table. But they made it very sure that it could not be like a catalogue to launch me as a designer and that I had to focus on the story,” she signs off.