Costume Analysis: Made In Heaven S2 - Part 4

From the Ambedkar blue to stark black, unpacking the costume meanings of episodes 5, 6 & 7.

(Warning: Spoilers Ahead)

You can also read the costume analysis of episode 1, episodes 2 & 3, and episode 4.

Episode 5

When we meet Dalit activist and intellectual, Pallavi Menke, she’s wearing a fitted maroon turtleneck top tucked in a sharply tailored pair of trousers with black shoes and a watch to finish off the look. That next appearance is in an oversized shirt with maroon bottoms. Both the looks take up space in different ways. One by having more fabric, and another by hugging the figure, thereby enhancing the body. Pallavi’s style is very much in the league of what a young academician would wear. It’s very dignified and professional. And since she’s a public figure, especially from a marginalized group, she’s always conscious about presenting her best self to the world, which shows in her personal moments as well.

Pallavi and her fiancé, Vikram’s connection has been shown subtly in different ways. Like here, the V-neck and stripped shirts showcase their tuning with each other.

Even when they are arguing, are on different pages (thereby, differently colored shirts), the style of both of their shirts are the same, with the same collars and similarly rolled-up sleeves. What’s even more significant about this scene is, Pallavi’s Ambedkar blue shirt. Historically, that color holds a lot of significance in the Dalit movement because of the sharp blue suits Babasaheb Ambedkar used to wear. So, when she is arguing with her fiancé in that blue shirt to have a Dalit wedding, is fighting with him to be treated as an equal in her own wedding ceremony, her voice symbolically holds a lot more power.

This is the only wedding I’ve featured in my analysis where there’s nothing specific to analyze. The sheer beauty of the ceremony and the pathbreaking representation of a Dalit-Buddhist wedding on a mainstream show is too amazing to be ignored, and the traditional ensembles and jewelry and absolutely gorgeous.

Episode 6

The wedding outfit in this episode clearly plays a significant role. After all, the director wasn’t subtle about that act of replacement and how horrible the first wife is feeling. It’s a tangible nod to tradition and how often tradition is used to justify oppression.

Adil’s mom is wearing blue - a color that symbolizes stability and reliability - when she meets Tara, but that reliability shatters when Tara sees the nursery being prepared. This acceptance of Faiza by her ex mother-in-law both saddens and angers Tara. In her eyes, this relationship has ended, hence the morose black.

To meet Raghav’s parents, Tara opts for a romantic pink and white ensemble that enhances her femininity, but that pink transforms into many shades deeper when she sleeps with Adil and goes on to blackmail him into giving her the Khanna house. Her passionate vengeful actions are represented in her outfit and earrings, as she applies her lipstick and gives him a smile after making the demand.

Episode 7

In one of her standout outfits, as she gets the ownership of the Khanna house, she is wearing a figure-hugging blue-green dress with a gorgeous updo and strong eye makeup. As I mentioned before, in any other movie/show, Tara’s character would have been the vamp. She’s even been dressed and characterized as one. But in MIH, she is simply a protagonist whose motivations and perspective are understandable regardless of whether one agrees with her actions or not.

After not talking to each other for 2 episodes, Tara and Karan finally reunite at Karan’s mother’s funeral. Despite being the opposite shades of the color spectrum, they understand each other and always manage to find they way back to each other.

But Tara’s thread of black continues on when she goes to Raghav’s friend’s resort. While Raghav is enamored by the facilities, she finds it all lacking. Realizing that this is probably the best Raghav can provide her with, we get her in the beginning stages of the end of an otherwise great relationship.

Faiza has always struggled with being accepted by Adil’s parents (and her own parents too, for that matter). She was the ‘the other woman’, after all! But in this scene, we find her in the exact shade as her soon-to-be mother-in-law. They are finally on the same page. On the same side.

I love these two portraits because we get two different sets of families where people have accepted other members as part of the group. In Adil’s family picture, everyone is connected through contrasting shades, whereas in the MIH group photo, everyone is in the same color palette. Meher and Bulbul, the two new members of the group, too are now part of this crazy family.

Just like the previous season, this season too ends with Karan and Tara sitting in each other’s company. And again, they are in black and white - opposites of each other, but nevertheless, the same. They are truly each other’s ying-yang.

Some Character Observations

When Tara goes to Raghav’s house to apologize for behaving rudely the other night, she is in a busy printed wrap dress. The print obviously reflects her cluttered state of mind, but it’s notable that unlike the first episode, this time she doesn’t blend in with his house. She starkly stands outs.

I want to bring attention to how sophisticated Meher always looks. Her clothing is never either too fitted or too loose. The finishing of her clothing is always sharp and while not super expensive, they are clearly high end enough to warrant another look. It all speaks to the security of her character. Living in a society where people are always questioning her gender identity, her clothing points to a lack of insecurity she feels within herself about her gender. She is, after all, in her true skin and is more in touch with herself than most of the cis population.

Image Credit: Amazon Prime