The anticipation is high. With Deepika Padukone’s look as Rani Padmini in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati revealed online and in the press this morning, excited cine-goers are wondering how the filmmaker is going to introduce his other stars, Shahid Kapoor as Rana Ratan Singh and Ranveer Singh as Allaudin Khilji, from the period drama.

Rimple and Harpreet Narula were the couturiers SLB trusted to bring his characters to life in the film. The duo, which does extensive research on its looks, travelled extensively for Padmavati. They literally went back to the 14the century this time. “We visited museums, studied every possible aspect of the 14th century to get the moods right, researched about the nature of embroidery, fabrics, drapes and the kind of work artisans did in that period. Each look, for Deepika, Shahid and Ranveer, was approved by Bhansali himself,” said Rimple. “He is a perfectionist. More than adding to the film we learned from him.”

For the Rani Padmini look, they worked out that Rajput women of that period wore either the saree or loose, baggy pants with a tunic. The lengha was also associated as the traditional dress of Rajasthan. But Rani Padmini’s origins are Sinhalese. And since there was no reference point for this, Rimple and Harpreet turned to old paintings, murals and frescos of the time.

“We gave her a very goddess-like look as Rani Padmini was worshipped by her subjects. So we gave Deepika a pure, organic and soft appealing look,” added Rimple. The Sinhalese influence is seen in the actress’ unibrow. “She is also playing a warrior princess and there are battle scenes in Padmavati. We looked into the tradition of young princes and princesses training for warfare and got our inspiration,” she said. There are also some tribal influences to Deepika’s character that Bhansali perhaps would like to keep under wraps for now.

As for the men in Padmavati, traditionally Rajput men wore the dhoti often with a cotton tunic. They also wore a short jacket, or angarhkha, that fastens on the right side. And they wore turbans that are tied in a manner to represent their particular clan. “Our brief for Shahid was that he is a young prince who became Rana Ratan Singh, the King of Mewar. So while working on his attire, we kept in mind the calmness and dignity of a king,” Rimple revealed.

Allauddin Khilji, played by Ranveer Singh, was the second most powerful ruler of the Khilji dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate. “I was really excited to do Ranveer’s costumes. They have a lot of fine detailing as we had to make him look like a ferocious yet responsible ruler. So we used a lot of earthy colours to reflect his moods,” Rimple said. Explaining any similarities between Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s Jodha from the 2008 romantic historical Jodhaa Akbar and Deepika Padukone’s Rani Padmini in Padmavati, Rimple said, “The audience will see the difference on screen.”