Costume designer turns heads

Joy Crizildaa is a sought-after stylist in Kollywood, particularly after the back-to-back success of movies like Velainu Vandhutta Vellaikaaran and Ennaku Innoru Per Irukku, in which she was the costume designer. Now, the first look of Rekka, the Vijay Sethupathi-Lakshmi Menon starrer, went viral on social media. To what does she attribute this huge interest that the audience is taking in a film’s fashion quotient? “It is because the industry as well as the city’s fashion scene, has started opening up. Apart from stories and songs, the audience has started noticing the artiste’s costumes and makeover as well,” she says. 

Lakshmi Menon will be seen sporting a modern, urban look for the first time in her career in Rekka. Joy who worked on the designs and her makeover says, “I had to do careful research. I watched Lakshmi’s earlier movies. I was careful not to give the audience a stereotypical look for Lakshmi. As I had worked with her previously, I was able to figure out what the audience may be expecting.”

Joy is currently working as costume designer for Nivin Pauly’s next. “However, I was more excited when I designed his look for an award ceremony recently. When you get instant praise from the audience, there is really nothing like it,” she says jubilantly.

She is a designer who has tasted success in a short span of time, being also the personal stylist of celebrities like Vijay, Nikki Galrani and GV Prakash, among others. Going by her recent photo shoots, had producers asked her to join the acting bandwagon too? She laughs, “Definitely not. I want to explore and constantly reinvent my designs and makeovers. I am happier to be behind the camera than in front of it,” she says.