Sunlight deserts us the moment we step in. The cavernous room, lit by tube lights, is filled with ancient glass-fronted Burma teak shelves. Inside them are bits and pieces from another world — soldier’s swords, king’s robes, queen’s jewellery, rakshasha ’s garlands with skulls…
They transformed ordinary men and women into stage actors who awed the audience. Part of a dream nurtured by Nathamuni, a tailor who lived in North Madras around 1910, the costumes are being kept alive at K. Nathamuni & Sons, a costume rental shop in Sowcarpet.
Brothers K.C. Udaya Kumar and Rabindra Kumar Babu carry forward the legacy of their grandfather. Said to be one of the oldest establishments that hire out costumes in the city, Nathamuni is also one of the most diverse.
From flowing gowns, stiff waist coats, gold-coloured papier-mâché crowns and turbans, to fruit, insect, and animal outfits, the shop has costumes for every possible traditional theatre character. There are flashy identical clothes for dancers, astronaut costumes with thermocol oxygen tanks, uniforms of Roman soldiers… there’s even a rack labelled ‘Piper’ with clothes for the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
Each room at Nathamuni is full of surprises — the deeper we dig into the building, the more we learn about Nathamuni, the man behind it all.
An earnest tailor with an eye for colour and design, he started out in a humble set-up on N.S.C. Bose Road over 100 years ago.
“He tailored costumes for therukoothu (street theatre) artistes,” says Rabindra Kumar who runs Costume Centre, the establishment’s branch by the Kodambakkam Bridge.
“He was a pioneer in the business in his time.” With theatre being the only mode of entertainment, Nathamuni was busy all year round. “Since there was a lot of demand for the clothes he made, he decided to hire them out,” says Udaya Kumar.
Nathamuni gradually moved from making costumes for therukoothu to those for historical plays. He designed costumes for people who played gods, goddesses, kings, and queens.
“He didn’t have anyone to look up to for ideas. He modelled his clothes from those that he saw in paintings and temple sculptures,” adds Rabindra Kumar.
His business thrived — “Soon, he took furniture bought on auction from Murray and Co. and hired them out to cinema companies,” he recalls. “You can see them in many of MGR’s movies.”
The Kodambakkam outlet was initially used to stock furniture since film companies were located in the area.
But as television transformed the entertainment scene, Nathamuni’s customers changed as well. “Ever since we took over in 1982, we’ve mostly had schools and colleges coming to rent costumes for skits and group dances,” explains Udaya Kumar. But television “created awareness on costumes,” he feels.
“When the Hindi serial Ados Pados featured an episode in which the characters dressed up in fancy costumes, people in the city did the same in their apartments. We got a lot of bookings then,” he smiles.
Business at Nathamuni & Co thrives during the school season if not all through the year. However, artisans such as wig and crown makers have moved on to other jobs. “Shortage of quality craftsmen is our challenge now,” says Udaya Kumar. “We are finding it difficult to meet the customer’s demands, which have evolved over time.”
In the past, school children mostly hired historical costumes.
“Children are more daring now,” feels Rabindra Kumar. His brother adds that they look for the perfect fit, and ask for designs that no one has ever attempted before. “Even if we design an out-of-the-box costume, there is no surety that it will get rented again,” he says.
But they are doing their best to keep up with the changing times. Just then, Rabindra Kumar’s phone rings: “Hello! Yes? Mosquito costume? Yes, we can make one.”
