Liked Dulquer and Mrunal’s looks in Sita Ramam? Meet costume designer Sheetal Sharma who recreated the 60s through his clothing

A period film is a great motivator for the crew to push the bar. Recreating a different era through the props, costumes, visuals and building a new world from scratch is as exciting as it can get. This is exactly what has happened in the case of Sheetal Sharma too, the costume designer of the period romance Sita Ramam, that’s set to hit theatres on August 5 across the globe in three languages.

The costume designer came on board for the Dulquer Salmaan, Mrunal Thakur starrer with a call from Swapna Dutt, the producer. He was instantly drawn to the story that was emotional, beautiful and refreshing at once. “Director Hanu Raghavapudi was very clear on the thought process. He has a clear vision, appreciates authenticity and offers enough scope to experiment,” Sheetal shares.

Sheetal was asked to recreate the old-world charm of the 50s and 60s which involved a lot of research. That they were telling the story of a soldier meant that he couldn’t leave anything to chance with the uniforms. With help from his team, everything fell in place. “The costume design in Sita Ramam is driven by the narrative based and so is the colour palette.”

The cherry on the cake was Swapna Dutt’s knowledge of vintage jewellery and clothing. The look trials for the actors made for an interesting experience, he says. “Both Dulquer and Mrunal both have carried off the looks beautifully. All along, we tried to keep things simple, true to the timeline but they brought a lot of beauty and character to the outfits.”

Sita Ramam is a love story that transports you into a different world, he assures. “The romance back then was more eternal and the emotions in the story are strong and relatable. Design and colours play a very important part in a film with strong emotions. Some scenes are certain to leave you teary-eyed and give you goosebumps. I feel happy to be a part of a film where aesthetics play an important role.”

The designer shares that the pivotal characters - played by Dulquer, Mrunal and Rashmika - intervene with one another over two decades, from 60s to 80s. He believes the cinematography, art and production design, have added amazing old-world charm and beauty to every frame. Deepika, his associate and Geetha’s inputs on the production front helped him immensely with the preparation.

Sheetal made extensive lookbooks with references and colour pallets so that all of them were on the same page. Arshita, Sushritha and Ajay helped him with local sourcing and communication. “It was a great learning experience to shoot at various locations from Kashmir to Gujarat to Kerala to Spiti Valley to Russia and Hyderabad. The journey with the film was so smooth.”

Ultimately, he credits the director for his immense sense of colours, music and for blending them into the narrative seamlessly. “He explained each scene, the relevance of colours and music in them. I knew we were going to be a part of a beautiful looking project.” He credits the actors for their cooperation despite shooting in difficult terrains with peak snowfalls for the dance, war, and action sequences.

Sumanth, Gautham Menon, Tharun Bhascker, Bhumika Chawla, Rukmini Vijaykumar and Prakash Raj also play important roles in the film. Sita Ramam has music by Vishal Chandrasekhar, cinematography by PS Vinod and Shreyaas Krishnan and is edited by Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao. The film is produced by Ashwini Dutt under Swapna Cinema and presented by Vyjayanthi Movies.