What Rajni and Will Smith have in common

Mary Vogt is a senior Hollywood costume designer who has worked on several big budget productions.

She specialises in science fiction film costumes and her filmography includes Men in Black 1 & 2, Hocus Pocus, Inspector Gadget and Batman Returns.

Given her specialisation, Vogt was approached two years ago by the team behind filmmaker Shankar's new sci-fi drama Endhiran-Robot starring superstar Rajnikanth.

Her job was to design specific clothes for Rajnikanth and the many different robot costumes seen in the film.
contributor Aseem Chhabra in New York City about her experience designing costumes for Endhiran -- the most expensive film to be made in India.

Chhabra met Vogt at the Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens, New York, where she is currently overseeing a huge project -- designing hundreds of costumes for director Barry Sonnenfeld's Men in Black 3, which will once again star Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones along with Emma Thompson and a variety of aliens.

Chhabra and Vogt sat down to talk in the designer's office. But before that there was a brief tour of the rooms where the Men in Black 3's costumes were being designed and stitched, and a visit to an elaborate set of a Chinese restaurant, where a crucial scene will be shot in November.

Rajni's Most Outrageous Look in Endhiran/ Robot

There's many reasons to watch Endhiran/Robot but none as compelling as the bilingual's leading man, Rajnikanth, who creates hysteria wherever he goes. And rightly so.
The man may be unassuming in real life. But when he dons the greasepaint, he becomes a chameleon. Nothing is impossible for the Tamil superstar as he transforms into a fighting machine half his age.

And while he's at it, he sports some outlandish outfits. We decided to present some of those right here. Click through the slide show, and vote for the most outrageous look at the end.

Rajni in gold

Makeup can do wonders like giving the 60-year-old star a full head of hair and an unlined face. Then there's the military style metallic gold jacket and flares to go with the whole 'Robot' look.

Variety in attire will be spice of Ash's life this year

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has lined up a range of diverse looks for 2010. Her looks in Raavan, Endhiran, Action Replayy and Guzaarish promise variety.
In Mani Ratnam's thriller Raavan, fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee has given Ash what he defines as a "very organic and rustic look". Vipul Shah's Action Replayy, a story that moves through four decades, will see her sport attires defining the seventies, eighties, nineties and the 2000s.

Mukherjee is also designing Ash's attire in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Guzaarish . He promised never - before ethnic splendour for the actress in that film. Tamil bigwig Shankar's Endhiran ( earlier titled Robot ) will see the former Miss World in bright colours, often bordering on the garish, typical of South Indian cinema.

"Ash's beauty can be limiting... So, she tries to underplay her beauty by taking up diverse and challenging roles," Mukherjee said. "In Raavan , she plays a classical dancer who is an educated and urban girl. Since the character is rooted to her culture, I have designed a contemporary yet rustic look with a puritan feel and realistic sensibilities. I gave her a lot of Khadi dresses and clothes from handloom shops," he added.

Ash, on her part, said her character Ragini is a strong woman in sync with modern India. Endhiran - opposite Rajnikanth - packages Ash as a typical south heroine. Her wardrobe mostly comprises saris and dresses in loud hues and even includes feathered and jewelled headgear.

Fashion designer Manish Malhotra, has styled Ash's look and attire for the Rs 120 - crore film. The look is in sync with the masala fantasy adventure film, he said.

The actress's look in Endhiran is multi - dimensional. "Ash's character in the film is a simple one that gradually gets a contemporary avatar that borders on fantasy," Malhotra said. He shopped in New York for the right colours in Ash's costumes.

The year - end will see Ash's fourth release of 2010 — Guzaarish , opposite Hrithik Roshan. While Bhansali maintains strict secrecy on the film, Mukherjee said Ash's look will "be completely different from what we have seen till date". But Action Replayy promises the biggest variety. Ash sports over 125 dresses in it. The makers of the film said this was justified as her character travels in time. Director Shah said Ash's character "loves to wear all sorts of clothes and keeps shopping all the time". Ash will sport everything from simple salwar - kameez to funky leather attire and multicoloured wigs in the film.

In a song dedicated to seventies screen couples such as Rajesh Khanna - Mumtaz, Amitabh Bachchan - Jaya Bhaduri, Dharmendra - Hema Malini and Rishi Kapoor - Dimple Kapadia, Ash and her co - star Akshay Kumar will be seen in heavy retro gear.

Shah refuted claims that the retro look is a copy of any specific film or star.

He said Akshay, Ash and the costume design team went through videos footage, especially TV footages of live cricket matches of the seventies, to arrive at the right look.