'OMG 2' costumer designer Leepakshi Ellawadi on designing Akshay Kumar's look

One of the first renditions of Akshay Kumar’s character, as envisioned by stylist Ellawadi

Starring Akshay Kumar, Pankaj Tripathi and Yami Gautam, OMG 2 highlights the importance of sex education by telling the story of a Lord Shiva devotee, who sues the school after his son is expelled for a ‘vulgar' act. Leepakshi Ellawadi, who is the film's costume designer, says that Kumar's character - a messenger of Lord Shiva - was the most fascinating to work on. She remembers the brief given to her as she began work in 2021.

"The character is written in a way that it's imaginative and yet real, dropping enough clues by way of mannerism and colour palette of who he is. My idea was to weave certain elements to create a vagabond-like character, who is captivating and has a multi-dimensional persona that also pays homage to the spiritual and mythological essence of Shiva."

More than research, Ellawadi says the look needed inspiration. She wanted to create something fresh. "We used dhotis, and draped pants with 16 to 18 metres of fabric. I did an amalgamation of Japanese-inspired cuts, mixed with clothing that looked vintage. [The idea was to create] an assorted look. None of his clothes were ever matching sets. Incorporating iconic elements like matted hair, a single Rudraksha mala, ash-covered skin, and a third eye [helped accentuate] the vagabond persona. These distinctive features reflect both the character's divine connection and his unconventional lifestyle," she explains.

That her muse was Kumar made matters significantly easier. "His build helped in draping the outfits correctly," she says, before praising the superstar for being easy to work with. "He lets you be imaginative. He was patient when we tried multiple wigs. In a scene, he emerges out of the water. During the shoot, there were so many animals alongside him in the water, but he was focussed on the scene and called for multiple shots."