Being as that I brought in the New Year with Abbott & Costello and Lee Van Cleef and Gina Lollobrigida instead of Hindi movies, all I have to offer today is this lovely 1973 saree ad, courtesy of Sharmila and Bombay Dyeing. More soul-stirring synthetics! How I love them.
My soul is indeed stirred! I love Sharmila. I love her sarees. OMG the AD WORKED!
I really love the red one on the right. I feel an urge to put on a saree coming over me! They are so forgiving of holiday overeating :-)
Are these from the 73 Stardust Annual? Or something else?
I remember seeing these ads and reading that tagline in magazines growing up, so I was either a very precocious reader or have the memory of an elephant!
How old are these ads?
Kiran: Yup, 1973 it is! :-) and the other one I posted earlier was from ’73 as well.
Oooh, I love the top left green one. It reminds me of the outfits Maria makes for the Von Trapp kids in The Sound of Music! LOL
I have some of my Mom’s from that period. And no one else understands why I love those garish nylons.
Hi Memsaab
These ads look good. However I remember my mom and older siblings not liking these sarees ie not buying them coz acc to them the sarees were heavy to wear and would also stick on to your person. I found the ads beautiful though! I guess the person who has to try and wear them knows better.
I too began my 2009 with “Slumdog Millionaire” – not the usual hindi movies.
ajnabi: can you imagine a sari made out of heavy brocade curtains? Ha ha :-)
Banno: do you wear them? I love how sheer they are, and love the way they look on, but I’m not sure I could stand to wear them myself (I do have one synthetic sari that drapes gorgeously—however, I have never tried to wear it in really hot weather!)
Anonymous: did you like Slumdog?
Hmmm. I must confess: I never quite liked the saris of the 70’s. My mum used to have them, nylons and polyesters and whatnot, with huge flowers and in eye-popping colours. I never got around to wearing them (they were out of fashion by the time I grew up), but I don’t think Mum liked wearing them too much either: they tended to cling to you.
P.S. Remember, on my blog, we were wondering whether Asit Sen (the director) was Asit Sen (the comic actor)? Apparently not. Subhash Jha, in The Essential Guide to Bollywood, very emphatically says that the two are not to be confused. We live and learn. *sigh* – I used to be so impressed that a man who could act the buffoon could also make such sensitive movies.
LoL better than the Parag saree ads of today no? My mom loved the big floral prints, never really figured out why but now I have a hint…she’s stuck in the 70s :-)
Grrrreat blog – hopped on here from Another Kiran in NYC.
Since you like movies, check out http://www.thecomicproject.blogspot.com for a filmi comic ;-)
Welcome Comic Project :) I like Kiran’s blog too…my Mom loved big floral prints and loud colors, but sadly she was trapped in polyester slacks instead of sarees. And at that point in time I just wanted to wear all black and disappear into the background (traumatic adolescence!) :-) I will def. check out your blog, thanks!
Nobody wears sarees like Sharmila Tagore! It used to be my ambition as a teen to wear a saree wrapped 60s style but it never worked out even though we all of us forced our poor mothers to slave over us for hours, pinning us full of safety pins and god only knows what else. Ma would always offer to make us bouffants instead because she used to wear them in the late 60s / early 70s and she knew she could make them work, but we wanted the sarees! Sob!
Oh, and if you like the sheer sarees, which I love myself, then the material you’re looking for is chiffon. hideously expensive but oh so worth it! esp french chiffon, i think its the perfect weight for a saree. Just wear it like you would spun rainbows, they’re that delicate and that dear.
I love bouffants; I had a gay hairdresser friend who could built a beehive out of my hair like you would not believe! Totally FAB.
And I love chiffon on skinny people like Sharmila; not sure it would look so great on me in saree form (I like crepe silk though). I do love silk chiffon—I have a couple of dupattas made from it which are beautiful and floaty and make me feel gorgeous draped in them :-)
Memsaab,
Wow, I just saw “Aa Gale Lag Ja” (and LOVED it) last night and thought to myself, gosh, Sharmila can really pull a saree off!
I like the red and orange one on the left! I like your comment about the saree being forgiving on holiday overeating :)
And they are, they are! They also look so nice with big hair and dramatic eyeliner!
Shabana Azmi is another actress who looks gorgeous in sarees esp in her 70s and early 80s movies – see Ek Baar Kaho and Swami for reference. She has that kind of graceful physique.
Memsaab, I really liked “Slumdog Millionaire” – excellent movie!
Glad you liked it :-) And Shabana looks good in whatever she wears (which pretty often these days is unbelievably gaudy, not that there’s anything wrong with that!).
yeah french chiffon sarees are really good to wear – beautiful too – unfortunately quite expensive and difficult to find easily
I used to, when I was slimmer and younger. But for some odd reasons, have rarely worn a saree in the last few years. Have to pull out some now, and get new blouses made.
As for Shabana, just saw her a couple of days ago, in ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ in a shocking pink bridesmaid’s dress with a pink veil and two bunches of lace flowers on her ears. A sight I’m not going to forget in a hurry.
Ha! I had forgotten that dreadful outfit from AAA…but still, she *almost* made it work :-D
When I visit Bombay next we will find a good tailor and get blouses made, and then spend an evening twirling around in your mother’s old sarees while we watch some cracktastic 70s film. Dhanno and Teja may want to go out that evening ;-) (although of course they are welcome to stay!)…
Lord – talk about Nostalgia – my mother had the red/yellow batik print one, in a green-yellow combo and I have a picture of her in it!
I still have one of these old Bombay Dyeing saris – sadly the material pills quite badly, so it isn’t very wearable now.
Amrita, what was so special about 70s sari-typing styles? AFAIK, they are the usual style (for the most part), except for short pallus…
As for chiffons..nope! Opacity is key to hiding bulges, in my uh…expert – opinion! :-D Silk crepe is an excellent choice. Disconcertingly, when it comes to blouses, I find myself turning, not into my mother, but into my grandmother – I wore a sari to the temple for new year’s day, and since it was cold, wore it with a turtleneck sweater as blouse – enjoyed the sari (yes a silk crepe, I have holiday bulges where no bulges should be – sob!) and stayed warm, despite the stares!
M
LOL, M. That what I said about chiffon too! I love the way Indian grandmothers wear sweaters with sarees, I bet you looked tres chic! :-)
Nice memories..Bombay Dyeing with their sarees draped over diverse actresses over the years.
BTW, I have just a recommendation that I am half-watching on Zee Cinema…Mumtaz, Dharmendra, Feroz Khan, BR Chopra etc….
you have to watch it just to see how “hep” and “current” Mumtaz looks in the song Zindagi Itefaq hai…with the The Monkees band backing her!!!
Sounds like “Aadmi Aur Insaan” which is a good movie—but the songs are FAB. And Mumtaz looks gorgeous. I can’t stand Saira Banu though :) Next to Ted Lyons & His Cubs, The Monkees are my favorite Hindi film band!
I agree, the more I watch SB, the less I like her.
Thanks for the tipping me about the name of the film, I started “watching” when a good 10 mins had gone by, so missed the title.
That black dress of Mumtaz’s is really good!
I think my mom still has some of those saris :)
reminds me of saris of Vidya Sinha in Rajnigandha, Choti Si Baat and Pati Patni Aur Woh.
Also here are some Sari and Kurti-Kameez ads from 1972 that I collected from The Reader’s Digest:
feat. Terene
and this one
probably feat. Persis Khambatta
Enjoy!
Those are great! so are the rest of your vintage Indian ads, and I started going through your other blog about Kashmir :-) Will def. come back for more!
That Kashmir blog is just stories and stuff that I would have like to read about Kashmir but few are writing about.
I hope I can go there someday :-)
which year did the Bombay dyeing ad with Lisa Ray appear?
Sharmila Tagore is as stunning as ever and most beautiful in those sarees.
She really is! :)
MemsaabStory 