When you are an Oscar winner and on a world tour, you need a fashion designer. Even the sartorially sombre AR Rahman. So Ritu Beri is designing the wardrobe for Rahman and his troupe for “AR Rahman Jai Ho: The Journey Home World Tour 2010â€, which commences on June 11 in New York.
Beri, who has barely a month to get the costumes ready, has to design 34 different looks for Rahman and the group of musicians and dancers who will be travelling with him. Befitting the grandeur of the sets and the occasion, she has designed unusual LED costumes for the team.
“It’s been my most thrilling experience to date,†says Beri. “When I started working on the looks, I realised that Rahman was not the one for flashy colours,†she says. But Beri is determined to make Rahman sport looks that he hadn’t so far. “This time Rahman has experimented. He has been more fun and adventurous,†says Beri who got him in ethnicwear for the song Khwaja mere Khwaja from the film Jodhaa Akbar. For another number, Rahman dresses like Michael Jackson, and this surely has been his boldest look, says Beri. She isn’t sure about touring with the troupe, but she will be definitely going to cheer them in Paris on June 17.