B'wood gets it going on the ramp

Mumbai: Normally no designer would want to share the ramp with a rival. But designers Vikram Phadnis and Shahid Aamir had no problems sharing space with each other — given that they both design for Bollywood.

At the show, the two flaunted their filmy connections, getting their favourite clients to walk the ramp.

So while Vikram Phadnis had Amisha Patel do the grand finale for him, Shahid Aamir was one up, having signed on Manisha Koirala, Dia Mirza and yesteryear leading ladies Hema Malini and Mumtaz to do the honours.

Naturally, for both the designers, name-dropping is part and parcel of the game.

"Amisha is just a phone call away. I just called her and told her I needed a show-stopper and she asked the date, place and time and she said I’m on. I think that’s being friends. The amount of work we do for the industry, it’s payback time over here when they come and do these small gestures," says Vikram Phadnis.

"I call Hemaji, Hema and Mumtaz, Mamu. I have seen their films as a child and these are two actresses I have really liked very much all my life," says Shahid Aamir.

As with everything coated with the glitz of Bollywood, the clothes were clearly not the focus of the evening.

So while the collections varied from the so-so to bad, it was clearly up to tinsel town to make up for it.

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