Setting Shahrukh's pants on fire & Mallika's dare bare

Ashley Rebello on his quirky clients from Bollywood Mallika's dare bare �She's the most fun person to work with - fun and mad. I remember we were once at a filmmaker's office discussing the clothes she required. The garment in question was a two-piece bikini. The director looked aghast at the photos and said 'Isn't it too small?' She replied, 'No bikinis are like this only'. Afterwards when I made it, she looked at it and said, 'I don't think I can wear it, it's too small!' She rang me up once and said, 'I am dethroned. I am dethroned!' I said, 'What what?' She said, 'I've just seen Dhoom 2 and Bipasha has worn the smallest of bikinis and Aishwarya has worn the tiniest of skirts!' When she went for the Cannes film festival I gave her this choli blouse and a brocade skirt with work on it and a really big slit right up till her bottom. Along with this I gave her a churidar with some pretty work on it. When I opened the papers and saw her I fainted with shock because she hadn't worn the churidar only the skirt and blouse! But then that's Mallika - totally mad but great fun to be with. She gets along with anybody and everybody and can keep you entertained all the time.� Sonali is a designer's dream �I did Sonali Bendre's clothes. She is one of my best clients. If I gave her the best of clothes or rubbish she'd wear it without a murmur so I always felt like doing my best for her. She carried off clothes like nobody else did. She looked so graceful in whatever she wore.� Aamir's Aligarhi pyjamas and blue jeans �Aamir is the quirkiest person where clothes are concerned. I did a spate of films with him during the Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander days. Once he required a white shirt and blue jeans. How difficult can that be? I got the white shirt, he said, 'No get me a size 6 white shirt.' I got them, he tried them all and found something he didn't like in each one and rejected them all. Then I got him another lot of white shirts and finally (thank God) he settled on one. Then I got him the blue jeans and he said, 'This pair - make this a quarter inch tighter.' Quarter inch?! I thought, Oh my God, I'll have to open the whole top portion, refix the buttons. I'll have to re-do it and all for a quarter inch. I went home wondering what to do? I put water on the jeans and dried it in the sun. Jeans tighten like that. I took a rickshaw and took it to him. He said, 'Haan this is just fine. See!' Then he asked, 'But where are the stitches?' I said 'If you can see where the stitches are then I haven't done a good job. I've done it so nicely that you can't even make out I've done it'. That's Aamir Khan! Whenever he needed pyjamas, it was a whole production because he used to wear only Aligarhi pyjamas, which his naani used to get stitched from Aligarh. So whenever he needed nightwear, I had to know in advance so that I could order them for him from Aligarh! Aligarhi pyjamas are very comfortable pathani style pyjamas! He always wanted his chappals and shoes to be made in a particular way with a particular kind of in-soles in them. He loved the chicken curry that my mum makes. He loves food and would come for Christmas to eat mum's curry.� Karisma turns designer �I'd say Karisma is the star who's most particular about her clothes. She would get me magazines from abroad, she'd get me buttons, trimmings, cuttings -- she'd make styles for me. When we did Fiza, it was the first non-glamour film we were doing. She said, 'Ashley I'll put a bit of base and we'll go for the shoot.' We went on the set and Santosh Sivan, the cameraman said, 'Go and wash your face and come. You've got make up on!' She said, 'No I haven't.' He said, 'Don't be insecure. Go and wash your face.' So she did and did the film without any make up. She has an outstanding complexion. When you watch her work; her dedication is complete. When Priyanka threw a fit �Priyanka Chopra was doing the film Karam. I was doing her clothes. Her outfit for a dance sequence required ostrich feathers and we got it from Australia. I told her hairdresser to do her hair in a certain way. Once the look was decided I'd come to the set early and send her clothes in. One day she sent for me and started firing me saying, 'You've come late, it's very unprofessional.' I was taken aback because I had come early but didn't go to her room because all the clothes were tried and approved, so I'd just send them in and wait outside. I told her so. But she refused to be mollified. She went on and on. Pammi, David Dhawan's wife, was there and she too said it wasn't right on my part etc. I was stunned at the unwarranted attack. When she saw my expression she started laughing and said, 'Today's the first of April stupid. Fooled you. Didn't I?' Setting Shahrukh's pants on fire �Shahrukh Khan and I met during Josh and we wanted to create something different with jeans. Mansoor's sister Nuzat and I were doing the film together. We just couldn't figure how to make the jeans different, because everyone was wearing jeans anyway. What could we do to make them different? SRK offered 'I have these old pairs of jeans, if you want you can use them.' We said okay and wondered what to do with them. We were smoking. A lighter touched the lower portion of the jeans and burnt them. We thought, 'Oh god now what should we do?' But the frayed bottom gave the pair a new look so we burnt the entire lower portion. The other pair we cut and sprayed all over and SRK said, 'Wow what did you do?' He also wore this earring on the side of his ear and it became such a rage that they were sold all over the place. After the film, everyone was wearing frayed jeans and earrings! SRK is absolutely hassle free. He'd quietly wear whatever we gave him.�