Style of Ranganna for 'Aavesham’: Designer Mashar Hamsa recalls the making

The character Ranganna played by Fahadh Faasil in the recent blockbuster ‘Aavesham’ has been a scintillating experience for movie lovers. His signature outfit that perfected the character loud and clear will remain the the hearts of the audience for long. Ranganna’s crisp white shirt and pants paired with heavy gold jewellery and sunglasses have already become iconic imagery. Moreover, the swag with which Ranganna calls his boys ‘eda mone’ elevated the character to a different level. Designer Mashar Hamsa who is known for creating some of the most stylish outfits in Malayalam cinema recently, deserves the credit for Ranganna’s fabulous makeover. In a candid chat, Mashar recalls how he had designed the local yet ‘classy’ look for Fahadh’s character in ‘Aavesham’.

Pure gold for Ranganna
Mashar says that the design team had already decided to make Ranganna wear white outfits as you may find lots of people in Bengaluru wearing this classy shirt and pants combo. They wanted to add more dimension by accessorising the look with heavy pieces of jewellery. Mashar says that it wasn’t easy to make the ornaments that they had designed in one gram gold. So, the crew made Ranganna’s ornaments in real gold. Interestingly, ornaments worth sixty sovereigns were made for Fahadh’s character. They got these ornaments made from different places. Custom-made pendants, rings and miniature knives too were made like this.

When Ranga became ‘Don’
“We had made a special pendant for Ranganna. It had ‘Ranga’ written in Kannada. When Fahadh wore it on his neck, most people read it as ‘Don’. It was only then we realised that Ranga written in Kannada read like the English word ‘Don’. That was in fact a surprising twist. There is a scene in which Ranganna’s shoe collection is shown. All the shoes in his collection are white. However, the character regularly wears Addidas’ running shoes. In such instances, we gave priority to the character’s comfort,” says Mashar.

Special chain
Mashar says that Fahadh had really enjoyed Ranganna’s outfits and styling. In fact, the actor had greatly enjoyed playing the character. “Fahadh made sure to pull out his chains right before filming a scene or change his style to suit the mood of the scene. He had an emerald chain on which a miniature knife was hung. I had asked him to keep that chain as a souvenir. Fahadh even pierced his ear for this movie and wore an emerald earring. His earring matches the green-coloured Qualis vehicle that Ranganna uses in the film. The look was completed with a golden classic watch by Rado,” notes the designer.

The ‘gold’ keeper
Fahadh’s gold ornaments were handled by his manager Shukkoor. It was he who kept the ornament box safe. Shukkoor would hand over the box to the costume department when he reaches the set. The team would return them as soon as the shoot got over for the day. Mashar says that it wasn’t safe to keep the gold ornaments in the costume van. After the film was wrapped up, the ornaments were safely handed to the production team.

Supportive crew
“We had tried to use just the basic styles and looks and make them stand out in the film. Sameer Thahir had given some interesting ideas for a costume. We lived in Bengaluru for some time before the filming began. While designing Kutty’s costume, Sameer ikka said that his costume should have the most swag. We gave a perfect fitting Italian suit for Kutty’s character. He was the most stylish character among the group. For Amban’s character, we showed the makers many references. But, it was Sameer ikka who suggested Vikraman’s character as a reference. Anwar Rasheed too was really supportive,” says Mashar.

Challenges
Mashar recalls that it was a challenge using white costumes while filming at night. He says that he had chosen white fabric that didn’t have too much depth for Fahadh. “The character was given a retro look in the flashback scenes. The jackets that Fahadh uses in those scenes were specially made. Primary colours were used for the lines in those jackets. The costumes, hairstyle and styling looked perfect after adding the background score and editing. All of us worked really hard to make this movie and Ranganna’s character fabulous,” Mashar signs off.