Imagine the possibility of designing the look of a character that is supposedly the oldest man alive. When director Nag Ashwin first narrated the story of Kalki 2898 AD, nearly four years ago to Hyderabad-based fashion designer Archana Rao , she was fascinated by Ashwatthama, the character inspired by Mahabharata, played by Amitabh Bachchan . She began imagining him in 2898 AD, in a science fiction setting.
Archana, who had collaborated with Nag Ashwin for Mahanati and the short film xLife from the Netflix Telugu anthology Pitta Kathalu , was game for the creative challenges ahead. Speaking from the USA, where she is currently travelling, Archana, a name to reckon with in Indian fashion, discloses that Kalki 2898 AD is the first film for which she designed costumes for the entire cast. For Mahanati , Gaurang Shah designed Keerthy Suresh’s costumes while she did the honours for Dulquer Salmaan , Vijay Deverakonda and Samantha Ruth Prabhu , and a few others.
From Savitri biopic to science fiction In the initial stages of Kalki , the only condition Nag Ashwin had was that Archana oversee the costume design for the entire film. “It proved to be challenging and a huge shift in my career. Coming from a fashion designer background, I was pleasantly surprised by how naturally I took to costume designing during Mahanati .
” Archana and Gaurang winning the National Award for Best Costume Design for that film was a recognition of the work that went into it. Designer Archana Rao| Ph.
