The market is witnessing a new phenomenon of jewelry brands associating with Bollywood productions. It’s business, as usual, for the jeweler, but the criteria is different. The jeweler has to understand the film’s syntax and synchronize his art (jewelry) and business with it.

Designing jewelry for a period film is a difficult task. Tanishq’s 12 member design team spent a long  time in research before the manufacturing of the jewelry began. “Our agenda was beyond the film,” says Aanchal Jain, marketing manager of Tanishq and project manager of Jodhaa Akbar. “We wanted to revive India’s glorious past.” She recalls that it was difficult to find a starting point as the art of the 16th century is not documented. The design team studied the architectural patterns of the times, scoured the halls of history, scrutinized miniature paintings from the Akbarnama, spoke to various royal families in Rajasthan and collaborated with the Karnataka Chitrakala Parisath (a college of fine arts in Karnataka) to define the art of the period.

Queeta Rawat, who has an MBA in marketing and has been designing jewelry for Tanishq for the last four years, is a member of the design team. 

Queeta explains that in his brief about the film, Ashutosh Gowariker had repeatedly stressed that the film was not about Akbar or what he became later, as recorded by history. Rather the film is about Akbar while he was trying to find his identity, when he was a patron of innovation. The director instructed the designers to avoid the use of machinery in the manufacture of the film’s jewelry and to hire artisans who would intricately handcraft the jewelry pieces. 

The designers were limited to using red and green colors exclusively in the color palette as Gowariker favoured patterns that reflected the rich Rajput and Mughal culture.   

The manufacture of the jewelry of Jodhaa Akbar took two years with 200 karigars who worked with 400 kilograms of gold, emeralds, rubies, tourmalines and exquisite jades. The karigars were hired from Gujarat and Rajasthan where workshops and manufacturing units were set up in various cities to manufacture the jewelry.
 
The Research Process

During the research process the design team was introduced to His Highness the Raja of Kishan Garh who had many references to share with the team. The Raja elaborated at length that jewelry in the medieval era was a status differentiator which underscored the social differences between royalty, courtiers, the upper crust of society and the common man. The jewelry of the film was handcrafted keeping in mind the social chasm between the various classes. Inputs from folk artists too, influenced the design of the ornaments. 

The team was introduced to the choti ka gehna (jewelry for plaited hair), golden payals (bulky anklets), bicchua (toe rings), finger rings, navratna sets, gale ki hansali (traditional neck piece) and nath (nose ring). The ornaments were referred to by a  particular terminology and colloquial terms like rakhdi (variation of the maang teeka), pacheli (an unusually high bracelet or  bangle), aad (necklace), etc. that were  used to describe the various ornaments that queens wore in that period.  

Once the design team figured out the various elements of head-to-toe jewelry, they deciphered the role of jewelry in a queen’s life. The next step was  to identify the crafts which embellished the jewelry. 

Handcrafted techniques like kundan and minakari were used to manufacture the jewelry of Jodhaa Akbar. The pink variety of minakari (also known as Bikaneri minakari), which is believed to be teetering on the verge of extinction, was also used. Experts cite only one known family in India which practices the art of pink minakari.
 
Blueprints from the Past

Jewelry was designed not only for Jodhaa and Akbar, but for other members of the family too. Jewelry for the nine ministers (Akbar’s navratnas), important relatives, and the ceremonial sword were part of the 400 pieces created for the film. “Jewelry designs reflected the distinct taste of the individual, reflecting his/her personality. People spent  months creating jewelry that befitted their status  with the most exquisite stones and brilliant craftsmanship,” points out Alpana Parida, head of marketing and merchandizing  at Tanishq.

“The jewelry that a king wore to his durbar was different from what he wore to war. The jewelry that a queen wore in her personal chambers was different from what she wore on festivals,” indicates  Aanchal Jain. 

During the research phase, they came across Rajput paintings and found that the Rajputs made optimum use of primary colors and blended them beautifully into a single canvas. Rajasthan is the great color belt of India and every costume is a delight. Red, green, ochre, saffron, purple and magenta, all the colors have been used. The design team studied the inlay and jali work at Fatehpur Sikri along with the Buland Darwaza, miniature painting folios, illustrated manuscripts and textiles. After in-depth research on both Rajput and Mughal culture, the team observed the frequent use of a few motifs. Motifs of Sufi saints, musicians, birds, animals, flowers and geometric shapes which interlocked, overlapped and combined the exuberant naturalism of the Hindu and Buddhist traditions. The team also noted that the elephant motif, which was Akbar’s favourite, was frequently used.

The design team also used the lotus motif, which was the prevalent motif of the Mughal period, for a necklace made of uncut diamonds in the kundan style. A great deal of research also went into the design of the 20-kilogram gem encrusted sword of Akbar which was designed by  Debashish Mishra from the design team.  Jain reveals that the sword took nearly a year (11 months) to manufacture. Sarvanan (a member of the design team) designed the archer’s ring and the tourmaline set worn by the young Jodhaa. Garima (another designer on the team) designed the navratna set for Aishwarya. She also designed a kundan set which is known to have three or four layers of work on it that Aishwarya wears in the movie.  

The design team worked assiduously with karigars to create spectacular jewelry for the film. “We worked with almost three generations of karigars,” states Queeta.

She narrates an anecdote  about her experience of working with  karigars. “Two karigars were assigned to make the peacock hansali. Artisans are by nature sensitive and moody; they simply refused to make it initially. When they did agree, they made it all wrong. Finally after a few trials and lots of coaxing and convincing the karigars got it right.” Referring to another instance, she says that the huge gold haar that she designed for Aishwarya required the right fall on the body. It had to be flexible on the neck and look and feel comfortable, and most importantly the links had to be perfect. This haar required 20 to 22 sittings to get the geometry, physiology and artistry right! 

Though her work was tough, Queeta emphasises that the experiences were enriching and memorable. Noting that the audience recognized and appreciated the jewelry, Queeta happily exclaims, “two years of hard work pay off when you see your designs on the big screen. Then you know it was all worth it.”
 
Lucrative Associations

Of late many jewelry brands have entered into collaborations  with Bollywood productions and high profile events. Chopard made a grand entry into the Indian subcontinent with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan wearing one of the brand’s prized creations at the Cannes International Film Festival in 2003. In 2005, Mallika Sherawat flaunted Orra’s beautiful jewelry for the same festival. 

The market is witnessing that jewelry is increasingly being promoted not just by star power and brand ambassadors, but also by feature films for effective brand visibility. The profitability of this business strategy is reflected when it is repeatedly replicated. Movies like Paheli, Vivah, Salam-e-Ishq and Om Shanti Om  have partnered with jewelry firms, Tanishq, D’Damas, Ira Diamond Jewellery from the Navinchandra Group and Sia Art Jewellery respectively.

How lucrative the association turns out to be for the jeweler depends upon the sales figures of the film-based jewelry collection. The collaborations are sometimes  a barter arrangement while at other times there are monetary transactions. D’Damas had a budget of almost Rs 10 crores solely for films and in-film branding in 2007, reveals Tasneem Gandhi, senior manager, corporate communications, Gitanjali Gems Limited.

The cost of jewelry for film projects also depends upon the film’s subject and the partnered jewelry brand. A light jewelry brand will work best with commercial cinema, while a traditional jeweler’s products will complement a period drama. Roli Malhotra of Sia Art Jewellery elaborates that her company positions jewelry as an inspiration for the Indian woman. “Through our jewelry the housewife can connect with the glamour of film stars. We associate with movies for brand promotions and in-film branding opportunities.” Tasneem Gandhi adds that, “In-film promotions create brand recall and the audience realizes that you exist.”

Jewelry brands associate with movies to create mass awareness within their target market. “Associating with a feature film will give complete access to your whole target audience at one shot,” points out Gandhi. “But most of the production houses we associate with come a little late in the day, leaving little time for research. Vivah was an exception. The launch of the Vivah collection designed by Dr Usha Balakrishnan was post the film and well researched.”
 
Unsurpassed Production

Jodhaa Akbar is an epic drama, but trying to estimate the cost of a project spanning months of research with two years set aside for the manufacture of 400 pieces of jewelry is well nigh impossible. The project must also factor in the time and effort of a few hundred karigars, a dozen designers, team leaders and production and logistic coordinators  who made the entire film a dazzling possibility. “The scale at which we took up this assignment was gigantic. No jeweler has to date surpassed the production rate that Tanishq has achieved with Jodhaa Akbar,” says Jain proudly. Koshy Cherian, regional business executive, Tanishq, points out that, “our handcrafted Paheli collection recorded good sales regardless of how the film actually fared at the box office.”

However, Tanishq has firmly decided that the film’s jewelry at present will not be sold. Elucidates Cherian: “The film’s jewelry will be available for the junta to appreciate but not to be given away for dual reasons: firstly, it is a labor of love and secondly, a prêt version of the same has been designed keeping consumer preferences in mind. Priced between Rs 25,000 and Rs 12 lakhs, it is available at our stores.”

Cherian describes the prêt ensemble of Jodhaa Akbar’s  jewelry as a modified—lighter, affordable and comfortable— version of the jewelry in the film. The designers have modified the  heavy and bulky designs into chic and stylish wearable options. There is a slimmer version  of the hansali and the bulky payals have been  converted into a necklace of 22k gold (Indians usually avoid gold on their feet). The broad kadas have been split into sleeker pieces, finger rings into pendants, the haar with the lotus motif is available in two or three variations, but the  bhor (the maang teeka) remains the same.  Though the prêt line will be available on the counter, the corporate will accept orders to make the generously styled jewelry that actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan wears in the film.

Art historian Dr Usha Balakrishnan, lauds the film’s jewelry as  “spectacular and magnificent” and believes that it must have been difficult to recreate the Mughal era with such finesse. She points out that the women in the Mughal period were almost always in  jananas (burkha/veil) and the designs were hence a hypothetical reconstruction of the period, an artistic rendition from the creative minds of the designers. Unlike Mughal kings Jahangir and Shahajahan, “Emperor Akbar was known to be a connoisseur of art and not an ostentatious person and that is visible in the film” says Balakrishnan. “The flourishing trade, the bustling gem bazaar, the prosperous Golconda mines, all contributed to the treasures of the Mughals and that is evident in the jewelry depicted in the film.”