After suffering huge losses in Jaipur when the set of
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s '
Padmavati' was vandalised by the members of Rajput
Karni Sena and the production equipment damaged, the production team received another shock and incurred further losses early Wednesday, when the set of the movie in the Masaipathar area, around 15km on the outskirts of Panhala town in
Kolhapur
district, was torched. Delhi-based designers
Rimple
and
Harpreet Narula
, who have designed costumes for the movie, say that the designs took months of hard work and recreating them will be a time-consuming process. "We are yet to get complete details about the costumes and the actual cost of the damage by the production team. A lot of hard work goes into the making of costumes for a period drama. All the costumes prepared were very fragile and the textiles for some of them were hand collected and antique, which are irreplaceable. Embroidered costumes were revived through old techniques of weaving, so making all of them again will be very difficult," says Rimple Narula.
(L) A reference sketch of a costume designed for the film by Delhi-based designers Rimple and Harpreet Narula
(L) A reference sketch of a costume designed for the film by Delhi-based designers Rimple and Harpreet Narula
A majority of costumes burnt were of junior artists who were to shoot a scene showing an army in the movie. "These must be costumes of around 50 junior artists. I have been informed by the production team that the movie set is completely damaged and nothing much could be rescued as the fire brigade didn’t reach on time," says Rimple. The production team also issued a statement mentioning the losses. "The sets of Padmavati in Kolhapur in Maharashtra region witnessed an unfortunate incident last night at around 12.30am, when certain miscreants attacked the film's set and set it on fire in an attempt to damage the property. A complaint has been filed to investigate this matter further, but we are grateful that there has been no loss of life or harm to anybody on the set. While thankfully, the incident occurred after we had wrapped our shoot for the day and all the artists, cast and crew were safely away; unfortunately, around 70 to 80% of costumes and jewellery for the movie have been destroyed," company spokesperson from
Bhansali Productions
said in a statement.