The transition of the Saree in Bollywood

Guest Post by Anila

 

Indian women have always loved the saree and worn it with much pride and adoration. Bollywood is no less when it comes to flaunting the seven yard sartorial wonder which remains to be the pride of our nation. Ever since the first bollywood movie was made, women were shown wearing  sarees . Since then, the saree has travelled a long way and undergone many changes in the way it was draped and the way the blouses were designed. Let us travel down the memory lane and glimpse at the changes that the saree has seen since the beginning of bollywood.

 

In the 1930’s and the 1940’s when bollywood began producing their producing their first movies, women were seen wearing sarees that were made mostly of cotton or silk. The blouses were designed in a way that it fully covered their neck to the elbows. They had their sarees draped over their head in most movies. The jewellery and hair worn up as buns added to the elegance. In the 1950’s when actresses like Meena Kumari, Madhubala and Nargis ruled bollywood, saree took a whole new form. The blouses were designed in a way that they resembled the modern day ones and these actresses were mostly seen wearing pattu sarees, that is sarees which have borders that are weaved with gold.

In the 1960’s when colour movies just began gaining popularity, sarees in bright colours like orange and bright green were worn by the then popular actresses like Sharmila Tagore, Vyjayanthi mala, Madhu bala and Asha Parekh. In the 1970’s, with women getting much bolder and with colour movies being made in full swing, bollywood actresses were sporting bold colours and sarees which had heavy work done on them. Much later, by the end of the 1980’s when actresses like Juhi chawla and Sri devi were the most popular bollywood actresses, plain sarees with a single colour throughout the saree and a similar colour blouse were in vogue with some actresses even wearing a matching bindi.

Today, the saree is still the much sought after outfit by most of the bollywood divas like Katrina kaif, Priaynka chopra, Kareena Kapoor, Vidya Balan and Deepika Padukone who are seen wearing sarees in their movies and most of the award functions. The saree has taken its most beautiful form in the 21^st century, when it is adorned with the most beautiful patterns and stoneworks by popular designers of bollywood.

Source: Anila writes with Bollywood Celebden, a premier source of Bollywood News, gossip and movie reviews.