Press
INDIA SWEETS & SPICES
THE ART OF COSTUME: From India Sweets and Spices to Paranormal Activity: An Interview with Costume Designer Whitney Anne Adams
“From ghosts, serial killers, cults, and everyday people, costume designer Whitney Anne Adams approaches all of her projects with dedicated research, authenticity, and a contagious amount of enthusiasm!
Our lead editor Spencer Williams spoke with Whitney about her career, friendship with the legendary Eiko Ishioka (Bram Stoker’s Dracula), horror films, working with four-time Oscar-winning Catherine Martin (Moulin Rouge!, The Great Gatsby), her work on Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin, and her new film now in theaters, India Sweets and Spices!”
“The movie’s MVP, costume designer Whitney Anne Adams also does some inspired work in this regard, magnifying the divide between the upper-class folk’s gorgeous, jewel-encrusted formal wear and the Duttas’ contrastingly simple, but tasteful and elegant clothing. ”
“Costume designer Whitney Anne Adams (“Freaky”) provides visual cues that Varun’s family is looked down upon, from his father wearing traditional clothes instead of the tailored western suits of the other men at the parties to his mother’s saris, which do not ostentatiously glitter and gleam like the bedazzled ensembles of her moneyed counterparts. ”
“One of the things I was extremely glad to see was that the Indian outfits looked like there was some thought and effort put into getting them right. I could see myself in some of those clothes, and I thought Manisha Koirala’s sarees were pretty wearable. Having been burnt enough times by the costume department’s decisions to put Indian characters in the most hideous of clothes ... it’s really nice to get a win like this!”