Manish strips the bride

Round 3 of India Couture Week says Indian brides must quit being coy. Varun Bahl replaced the choli with a whimsical kimono. With ghagras slit to reveal a sexy thigh, the blouse ditched for a flimsy poncho, Manish Malhotra presented the dare-to-bare dulhan. Will muse Kareena take a cue? Shweta Shiware reports from the new-age mandap

Who: Manish Malhotra
Is: Veteran Bollywood costume designer, and a favourite with India's moneyed and starstruck brides
He's in no mood to let the bride play the coy game. He wants the ghagra to hag low on the hip, slit down the front to reveal the thigh, the choli to ride up the back in a steep V. Manish Malhotra's collection titled, Destination Wedding, lent a relaxed resort wear touch to stuffy bridal wear. He infused mix-and-match energy, teaming tapered lehengas with one-shoulder poncho tops held in place by little else than a single string. Wispy Anarkali kurtas, some even Grecian-inspired, walked the ramp to music from Love Aaj Kal.

It was a different take on a segment that's associated with heavy finery, yes, but we couldn't help see flashes of his last Lakmu00e9 Fashion Week collection. Just one of many pitfalls of holding one fashion week after another, depriving designers the luxury of time to let inspiration strike them.

Cover-up girl Manish's muse and actress Kareena Kapoor made a conservative statement in a nude, cowl neck top sheathed in pearls and a fishtail gota work ghagra a far cry from the sensual ensembles the models were clad in. In fact, boyfriend Saif's black velvet sherwani with blue and purple panels, was
far more audacious, with a plunging neckline.

Who was there?
Jugal Hansraj, Uday Chopra, Imran Khan with girlfriend Avantika, Dino Morea with on-off girlfriend Nandita Mahtani, Neha Dhupia with boyfriend and squash player Ritwik Bhattacharya (seen taking swigs from a beer bottle they'd sneaked into the main show area) and Kajol.

The Japs will mate with Indians, Varun Bahl decided while presenting a collection inspired by the Geisha Indian Bride. Using Origami drapes, he pitted the complexity of Japanese kimono blouses against ornate hand-embroidered Swarovski-laden ghagras.

Here, a tediously planned set resembling a Jap meditation spa with a lavish runway created using marble inlay outlined by Japanese signage was the showstopper. While trying to create a line that would appeal to the Indian trousseau market, Varun sneaked in Japanese design elements up a few choli sleeves and collars, in the self-textured scallops, and of course, in Little Shilpa's headgear using chopsticks, cherry blossoms and hand fans. Fantastic styling, we admit, but perhaps so good that it yanked attention away from the garments.

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