Manish Malhotra admits overspending Rs 5,000 on film’s Rs 2,500 costume budget: ‘It was never about mai Rs 500 andar kar leta hu’ |

Manish Malhotra is one of Bollywood’s most well-known fashion designers. Over the years, he has shaped many iconic screen looks and worked closely with celebrated filmmakers. As he recently turned 59, he reflected on his craft, and recalled experiences for working in the film industry.

Manish Malhotra on facing strict budgets in the early days

In an interview with SCREEN, Manish recalled an incident from the start of his journey. He said, “I remember years ago, the budget given to me for a costume was Rs 2,500. And I had spent Rs 5,000.”He added that he never believed in saving small amounts at the cost of his work, “To me, in the beginning of my career, it was never about ki main Rs 500 rupay andar kar leta hu (it was never about that I could adjust Rs 500 myself) and then work on my costume. No, it was always about the actor should call me back. They should like my work that much.”Even today, Manish works with the same mindset. He said, “I approach my work like this till date. Just now, in a fitting, I added more work to the garment. Now, a lot of times, my assistants look at me and say, ‘Time kam hai. Ye kaise karenge?’ But I’m very true to what I’m seeing.”

Manish on his glamorous looks often taking spotlight

Manish is widely known for glamorous screen moments, like Kareena Kapoor’s look in ‘Bole Chudiyan’ from ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’. At the same time, he has also brought strong craft into films like ‘Satya’ for Urmila Matondkar and ‘Yuva’ for Rani Mukerji.Talking about how glamour usually gets more attention, Manish said, “Glamour will always overshadow it. Luckily, I’ve always had many, many big films where the costumes also became very famous. So, that will always take over.”He said that even if he stopped doing costumes and chose to focus only on films and his brand, he believed people would still remember him for his costume work. He felt that some things become branded and stamped for life, and he was completely fine with that. He did not mind it, as he felt he had received a lot of credit for many things he had done.