Decoding Amitabh Bachchan’s warrior look in Thugs of Hindostan

Bengaluru, 30th October 2018: –  Yash Raj Films mega action extravaganza Thugs of Hindostan has wowed everyone with it’s entertaining, larger than life trailer. Having brought together Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan onscreen together for the first time ever, the film boasts of a casting coup of this generation.

The fictional film is set in 1800s India which saw the rise of the British East India Company who changed its intention to become a conqueror. Bringing alive this era and yet retaining a touch of fantasy meant that costumes have the most important place in the film. Amitabh Bachchan, who plays the heroic Khudabaksh, has a meticulously crafted costume that echoes his legendary valour.

Costume designers Rushi and Manoshi researched for months to design his unique look that combines armour, leather and the traditional dhoti pants. “Our brief for Khudabaksh was that of a warrior who is a farmer at heart. This character has very contrasting personalities. Our costume spoke this brief aloud. We have given him a kurta and the dhoti is absolutely kisan like. The kurta has a cotton and a linen rib with a mulmul lining to give it that softness and on top of that we have given that hard armour which brings out the fierceness of a warrior of Khudabaksh’s stature,” they explain.

Shooting for Thugs of Hindostan onboard a ship during action sequences with rain and sea waters soaking up the actors was tough. But Amitabh Bachchan, living legend of cinema, sailed through these portions. “The costume designers have gone through a huge process of labour and research to design something,” he says, adding, “A lot of the sequences in the armour was shot in rain. The leather use to soak in water and it almost became as heavy as wearing a metal outfit. Yes, It was cumbersome but I think in the interest of the film and in the interest of the character one had to wear it.”

Thugs of Hindostan has been directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya. It is set to release on November 8, a national holiday, in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

‘Firangi wears things that he has robbed from people!’: Aamir Khan on Firangi’s look
Thugs of Hindostan, the visually grand action adventure from Yash Raj Films, is a fictional story that is set during British East Indian Company’s rule over India. Given its setting and its larger than life scale, designing the looks and costumes of the film’s characters were of great importance as it required audiences to go back in time.
“Firangi is a potpourri of different elements and identities stolen from the myriad people he meets. He loves his name and lives up to it with his top hat and his choice of foreign booze, which also are incidentally stolen from people. He wears an English leather tail coat in a jade colour, the colour of a chameleon,” says designers Rushi and  Manoshi
“Like a magpie, he loves collecting things that shine to his eyes. He has a chatelaine belt from which he hangs his favorite glinting belongings. A rose-tinted sun-glass, an ornate leather canteen of water, a mismatched pair of boots and a ‘potli’ full of tricks, beware of the charmer, Firangi Mallah!” they add.
In creating the look for Aamir Khan’s character Firangi, a flamboyant, wily, deceptive smooth talking thug, the actor was minutely involved in the research and design.  “For Firangi, what we figured is  that other than the dhoti that he wears, everything else is robbed from someone! Whether it’s his hat, sunglasses, shoes, jacket, everything has been flicked.” he adds.

Yash Raj Films Thugs of Hindostan is the biggest visual spectacle hitting the big screen this Diwali. It boasts of a larger than life, never seen before action extravaganza and an incredible casting coup that brings together two of the biggest legends of Indian cinema, Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan on screen for the first time.
Thugs of Hindostan has been directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya. It is set to release on November 8, a national holiday, in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.