Péro Reimagines Sridevi’s Chandni

Péro’s new collection captures the cheerful, dreamy and romantic vibe of late actor Sridevi’s character from ‘Chandni’.

Anyone who’s grown up in a Bollywood obsessed household is no stranger to the irresistible appeal of late actor Sridevi in the 1989 film Chandni. Her big eyes, the megawatt smile and the arch of her eyebrows remain etched in most minds. For designer Aneeth Arora, who was barely six years old when the film released, Sridevi’s titular character Chandni symbolised a vibrant and chirpy girl who made everyone around her happy. “What stayed with me were the colour coordianted bangles she wore, the sound of the bangles, the glittery bindi on her forehead and the sparkle in her eyes,” says Arora, who has translated her memories of the character into péro’s latest Spring/Summer collection called 'Chandni', which was launched at multi-retail store Ogaan, New Delhi on July 12th, 2019.

The promotional poster conceptualised by Nikhil D, stylist and founder of talent agency Feat.Cast, features a model draped in a dainty yellow sari with a string of pearls around her neck in a dreamy moonlit sequence. The poster is reminiscent of the famous dance-song sequence from the film “lagi aaj sawan ki phir woh jhari hai” where Sridevi draped in a yellow sari swirls seductively around Bambai ki baarish. All the the promotional posters have been shot by photographer Farhan Hussain and created by art director Vartika Sharma, both from Feat.Cast.

However for the collection, Arora who is known not to use synthetic fabrics, has steered clear of chiffons. She has instead used lightweight Chanderis from Madhya Pradesh, and cottons, brocades and silks sourced from West Bengal, Benaras (Uttar Pradesh) and South of India, respectively. The colour palette is majorly borrowed from the film. “I had strong memories of yellow and blue plain chiffon saris from the film and also Chandni’s love for whites. We have used these colours mainly and added a few corals,” says Arora.

Sridevi’s understated but polished styling in the movie has been a huge inspiration for Arora who has consciously kept the sets all matchy from top to toe. “If it’s a yellow sari, there’s a yellow blouse to go with it. There are yellow suit sets and matching skirts and blouses. But we have also tried colour blocking and florals. The main idea was to use the key colours from Chandni and also use the matching concept for clothes,” she says.

All the drapes and apparel in the collection are adorned with subtle embroideries in sequins. “Keeping the delicacy of the theme in mind we have done zardozi as opposed to aari work. Each piece has very intricate details,” says Arora. The use of bright colours and florals lends the collection a happy and cheerful vibe.

The collection includes 150 saris, 100 kurta sets, 50-60 blouses and 20 odd skirts and the USP is that each piece is unique. “We haven’t repeated any of the pieces, the detailing and the colour is different in each,” points out Arora. After Ogaan, the collection will travel to Collage in Chennai, where it will be opened to the public on July 19-20 and from there it will move to Elan in Ahmedabad and other multi-retail stores across India. Priced from ₹18,000 onwards the collection gives every woman an opportunity to unleash the chirpy Chandni lurking inside. “There is a Chandni in all of us, some just let it loose and some just keep it hidden,” concludes Arora.

SOURCE