New Delhi: Fashion designer Manish Malhotra, who has spent 35 years designing costumes for Bollywood movies, has always remained a very “private” person. But, in his recent appearance on a new episode of Two Much with Kajol and Twinkle, the designer shared three surprising facts about his life —from his dating history (or lack thereof) to how he found his way into films.
Malhotra was accompanied by Sonakshi Sinha for the sixth episode of the chat show.
During a segment of ‘This or That’, Malhotra dropped a bombshell saying he has never dated anyone in his life, leaving Kajol, Twinkle, and Sinha visibly stunned.
When they pressed him further, the designer calmly repeated, “I’ve never dated anyone in my life.” He smiled and added, “I’ve been married to my work.”
For Kajol, who has been his close friend since the DDLJ (1995) days, the revelation was unexpected.
Malhotra has over 1,000 movies to his credit, including hits like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai(1998), Dhadkan (2000), Jab We Met (2007), Om Shanti Om (2007) and more. His eponymous label, too, celebrated 20 years in July this year.
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A costume designer first
Reflecting on his early years, Malhotra shared that while he was always drawn to films, fashion wasn’t part of his original plan.
“I would often tell my mother when her colour combinations didn’t work,” he laughed, “but I never thought of it as a career.”
His journey began during his college days—he tried modelling when realising his real calling behind the camera. What pushed him into costume designing, he said, was the lack of style in 1980s cinema.
“The 70s were iconic — from Rajesh Khanna’s kurtas and Amit ji’s collars to Zeenat Aman’s glamour. But by the late 80s, films just didn’t look stylish. And I was determined that I would only design for movies, and I’ll always be a costume designer,” he said.
His first project was David Dhawan’s Swarg (1990), in which he designed costumes for Juhi Chawla in one of the songs.
Over the years, Malhotra’s signature style has come to represent grandeur and opulence, earning him multiple collaborations with almost every major filmmaker in Bollywood, excerpt one.
“You’ve worked with everyone except Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Considering your designs are as opulent as his films, why haven’t you two collaborated more?” Kajol brought it up.
Malhotra replied that he did one film with Bhansali, Khamoshi (1996), but that was it.
“I think someone once asked him about it. Maybe he thought I was too close to Karan [Johar] and Adi [Aditya Chopra] that I belonged to their group,” he continued.
Kajol and Twinkle chimed in, laughing, “You were from a different camp.” Malhotra said that he’s a professional and can work with different actors.
“Sometimes, some things just don’t happen and then you just make your own path,” the designer added.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)