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19th century 20th century 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s Actor Ancient India Art Cinema Colonial Costume Culture Early 20th Century fashion India Indian Cinema Indian Dress Indian fashion Indian men Indian Women Paintings Sari Sari Blouse Vintage Vintage Blouse Vintage Dress vintage fashion vintage sari WomenVishay
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Category Archives: Romance
Bright Young Things in the 1940s
For upper class fashions of the late 1940s you can go no further than Andaz (1949) in which Nargis, Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Cuckoo play giddily modern Bright Young Things. The centrepiece of the film is Nargis and the actress looks perfect in … Continue reading
Posted in 1940s, Actor, Indian Cinema, Romance, Sari, Sari Blouse, Vintage, Vintage Blouse, Vintage Dress, Women
Tagged 1949, Andaz, Dilip Kumar, indian cinema, Mehboob Khan, Nargis, Raj Kapoor
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The Historical Drama – Manthiri Kumari
The full Madras cinema treatment (i.e. also not very accurate) for a film adaptation (Manthiri Kumari) of the Tamil Buddhist classic, Kundalakesi. The attire includes a short embellished tunic (with a good degree of frills) and a jewelled belt for the leading lady. And … Continue reading
Utsav/Mṛcchakaṭika
Your garment’s border, red and fair, Is all a-shiver in the air; Another courtesan, this time the fabulous Rekha playing Vasantasena in the film adaptation of Mṛcchakaṭika (The Little Clay Cart). The garment is in fact red in the movie and given Vasantasena’s wealth, she wears … Continue reading
Posted in Ancient India, Indian Cinema, Period Drama, Romance, Sari Blouse
Tagged 1984, ancient india, Girish Karnad, Mṛcchakaṭika, Rekha, Sanskrit Drama, Sudraka, The Little Clay Cart, Vasantasena
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Santosh Sivan’s Asoka
Santosh Sivan’s epic film of the Mauryan King, Asoka, surprisingly sticks to a simple, subdued palette and body decoration for the princess Kaurwaki. Again not quite the choli but perhaps a sewn breast band. And the film it appears is fairly authentic in terms of plot.
Posted in Ancient India, India, Indian Cinema, Indian History, Period Drama, Romance, Sari Blouse
Tagged ancient india, Asoka, Costume, Indian History, Kareena Kapoor, Maurya, Santosh Sivan, sari blouse, Shahrukh Khan
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The Book Cover Post
Apart from the movie based on Maitreyi/La Nuit Bengali, the book covers also leave much to be desired featuring as they often do a generic exotic Indian woman barely indicative of the decade in which Maitreyi takes place. The first … Continue reading
Posted in 1930s, India, Literature, Romance
Tagged Bengal Nights, book cover, La Nuit Bengali, Maitreyi, Mircea Eliade, romance
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The Epic Post – Shakuntala
byeloriszanianka: July, 1957 issue of the China Pictorial (Ren Min Hua Bao) shows a still of China’s National Youth Theatre’s performance of dramatist Kalidasa’s Shakuntala to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the founding of the China-India Friendship Association. Shakuntala is … Continue reading
Posted in 1950s, Ancient India, Asia, Period Drama, Romance, Sari, Sari Blouse
Tagged 1957, China, dance, india, Kalidasa, Sanskrit Theatre, Shakuntala, vintage
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The Epic Post – Shakuntala
And last an interesting peek into the making of the dress of ancient heroines, including Shakuntala, in the Amar Chitra Katha comics. No doubt a Shakuntala of the 21st century would again be quite different (though we can perhaps skip this soap opera … Continue reading
Posted in Ancient India, Comics, India, Literature, Period Drama, Romance, Sari, Sari Blouse
Tagged Amar Chitra Katha, comics, india, Kalidasa, Sanskrit, Shakuntala, vintage
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The Epic Post – Shakunatala
Shakuntala has also been filmed a fair bit. Surprisingly MS Subbulakshmi dispensed with a blouse in the Tamil movie Sakunthalai (directed by the American, Ellis R Dungan). Other film depictions like V Shantaram’s also discard the blouse. All employ a number of flower garlands … Continue reading
Posted in Ancient India, India, Period Drama, Romance, Sari, Sari Blouse
Tagged film, india, MS Subbulakshmi, romance, Shakuntala, vintage
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The Epic Post – Shakuntala
Sacontala says goodbye to Madhavi. Illustration for La Civilizacion by Don Pelegrin Casabo Y Pages (Mir, Tarradas, Comas, 1881-82). Shakuntala first appeared in the West in a William Jones translation and its not surprising the German romantics loved the drama. Subsequently Theophile … Continue reading
Posted in Ancient India, Illustration, Period Drama, Romance, Sari Blouse
Tagged drama, Kalidasa, literature, Shakuntala, translation, vintage
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The Epic Post – Shakunatala
Posted in Ancient India, Art, India, Literature, Romance, Sari, Sari Blouse
Tagged ancient, blouse, heroine, india, Kalidasa, Raja Ravi Verma, Shakuntala
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