We've tried to recreate the innocence of the 90s: Prachi Desai

Prachi Desai who will be seen in the upcoming biopic Azhar, has a very distinct look in the film. Prachi plays Azharuddin’s wife Naureen and to get the look right the filmmakers have taken references from different women and eras — Juhi Chawla (in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak), Naureen herself and A.R. Rahman’s wife Saira Banu.

Talking about her inspiration, Prachi says, “The character starts off as an 18-year-old who is married to a popular cricketer like Azhar. To bring out that look we took reference from one of the most influential films of that time, Qayamat se Qayamat Tak. We’ve tried to recreate the kind of innocence that the couple had back then.”

For recreating Naureen in her 20s, the makers went straight to the source. “This is when her husband Azhar was becoming a big star. She was also growing and maturing. The designers have recreated the outfits from Naureen’s photos, including the wedding costume and her everyday style of dressing,” she adds.

About the third look she continues, “The problem is, there’s not much information on Naureen in the press from those times. So we found a beautiful reference instead, from the life of A.R. Rahman and his wife Saira Banu. It really helped since like Naureen, Saira too had a very distinct style — for instance, the way they wore their dupatta. I met some of Naureen’s family members too.”