Eddie Murphy Inspired Sridevi’s Iconic ‘Roop Ki Rani’ Look

MUMBAI-National Award-winning designer Neeta Lulla has revealed that Sridevi’s “larger-than-life” look in the 1993 film ‘Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja’ was inspired by Eddie Murphy’s Hollywood film ‘Coming to America’, which released in 1988.

Lulla recalled on social how she watched ‘Coming to America’ when it was released. A few weeks later, she received a call from Sridevi to work on a song for ‘Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja’, and the Hollywood film and its elaborate costumes were still fresh in her mind.

“When I met her, this movie and the clothes were still fresh in my memory. So in my discussion, I asked her if she could do something which is really larger than life with feathers and something that I couldn’t really think of but I suddenly started to sketch,” said Lulla.

She sketched an elaborate outfit with a layered skirt, gold metal detailing on the bodice and a feathered headgear. Sridevi was intrigued by the design but wondered whether Lulla could actually bring it to life.

Once the design was finalized, Lulla began creating the garment. She went to Mumbai’s Crawford Market to source feathers for the headgear and combined them with chain mail, stones, rhinestones and metal pieces.

After the outfit was completed, Lulla took it for fittings, where Sridevi was pleased with the finished look. The song took several days to shoot, with the costume requiring repeated repairs and refinishing because of the demanding dance sequences.

“And then we started to shoot. Those days, a song was shot over at least 10 to 12 days. This particular song went from morning till very late in the night. I remember every day the shoot would start by 9 o’clock, but it would end around 10, 10.30.”

She added, “And I would carry the clothes back, restructure them, refinish them, check on the feathers, check on the jewelry, attach the pieces back because the dance move was really heavy and take it back for shoot the next day. And the song came out as you saw it (sic).”

‘Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja’, starring Anil Kapoor, Sridevi, Anupam Kher, Johnny Lever and Jackie Shroff, was directed by Satish Kaushik and written by Javed Akhtar. (IANS)