In celebration of 100 years of Bollywood, Bollyspice have decided to look back at the career of pioneering Bollywood costumier Ana Singh.
With 25 years experience working in the industry, Ana Singh began her career in 1989 working on the Salman Khan starrer Maine Pyar Kiya. Since then the costumier has gone on to work on 998 films including Khalnayak (1993); 1942: A Love Story (1994); Hum Apke Hai Kaun (1994); Bombay (1995); Border (1997); Refugee (2000); Khakee (2004); Omkara (2006) and Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai (2010).
Singh has also gained a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for her contribution to Indian cinema.
Notable achievement for Singh include winning two National Awards for her work on Taj Mahal and Umrao Jaan as well as receiving the Rajiv Gandhi Excellence Award for her contribution to fashion design and research on the movie Mission Kashmir. Singh has also received the Prime Minister’s Women Achievers Award, and has worked with leading Indian personalities, as well as international stars such as Michael Jackson and Will Smith.
The costumier has also designed for the International Film Federation Awards (IFFA) from 2003–07 in Amsterdam, Leeds, Dubai and Bangkok.
Further to her work in movies Singh was the official designer for the Miss India competition from 1994–99, and has created numerous wardrobes for Indian Miss World and Miss Universe winners. Singh was also the official designer for the 2010 Commonwealth Games opening and closing ceremonies, creating over 20,000 outfits depicting the rich and varied cultures, music and dance forms of the different states within India.
Veer. 2010. Directed by Anil Sharma. Starring Jackie Shroff and Zarine Khan.
Umrao Jaan. 2006. Directed by JP Dutta. Starring Aishwariya Rai.
Two stills from Veer. 2010. Directed by Anil Sharma. Starring Jackie Shroff.
Veer. 2010. Directed by Anil Sharma. Starring Salman Khan.
Umrao Jaan. 2006. Directed by JP Dutta. Starring Abhishek Bachchan.
Umrao Jaan. 2006. Directed by JP Dutta. Starring Aishwariya Rai.
Taj Mahal. 2005. Directed by Akbar Khan. Starring Sonya Jahan (granddaughter of legendary singer Noor Jahan).
Images courtesy Ana Singh.
