THREADS OF FILM HISTORY

SARIKA DRESSWALLA CARRIES FORWARD ALMOST A CENTURY OF TRADITION AT MAGANLAL DRESSWALLA, OUTFITTING EVERYTHING FROM PERIOD EPICS TO HOLLYWOOD BLOCKBUSTERS

- ANANYA SHANKAR

On a bustling road in Mumbai's Juhu, between an ethnic wear store and a designer boutique, a metal signboard reads 'Maganlal Dresswalla'.

An unassuming alleyway leads to a dimly lit staircase, where blue walls are lined with posters of movies such as Mughal-E-Azam (1960) and Alam Ara (1931), alongside a framed Limca Book of Records certificate. It firmly establishes that this is India’s oldest costume supplier.

At the end of the staircase, amid a swan-shaped palanquin, bear costumes, swords, royal livery and heavy armour, Sarika Dresswalla, the third-generation custodian of these rarities, steps out of her cabin, leading The Hollywood Reporter India into what could only be described as her chamber of curiosities.

TURBANS TO TINSELTOWN

This is not the brand’s first store in Mumbai. Sarika’s grandfather, Harilal Dresswalla, and his older brother Maganlal, used to make turbans in Dhaari, Gujarat, before they came to Mumbai before Partition, and received an offer to make film costumes. “One day, my granddad went to a production house and he was made to sit outside for hours,” Sarika tells THR India, sitting on a wooden bench in the middle of her store. “They said, ‘Woh tailor ko bulaao andar (call the tailor inside)’. But he got up and said, ‘Mai tailor nahi hoon, mere neeche itne saare tailors hain (I’m not a tailor, I’ve got many of them working under me). I’m a dresswalla.’”

And with that, Maganlal Dresswalla was born — formally established in 1926.

Since then, the company has outfitted everything from black-and-white classics such as Jewel Thief (1967) to period dramas including Jodhaa Akbar