Attempting a period movie in today's times is as rare as having thunder showers in the month of January. And if someone dares to attempt one, with the budget not being a constraint, it makes the project all the more special. In recent times, the money spent by Bollywood filmmakers on costumes and jewelry to adorn the heroines in their period movies deserves special mention. It really requires courage, prowess, patience, aptitude, knowledge, passion, and of course, loads of money to attempt a movie like the recent release Ashutosh Gowariker's magnum opus 'Jodha Akbar'.

You haven't watched anything so opulent, so magnificent like this in a long, long time in the Hindi cinema. The lavish costumes and jewelry have been so very beautifully designed and crafted that a movie like Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Devdas' seems to fade miserably in comparison.

The biggest thing about this movie is that all the ornaments worn in this movie are real. It has real rubies, diamonds and gold. All these ornaments were sponsored by the leading brand Tanishq. The ornaments made were a blend of Rajasthani and Mughal design. The jewelry alone costs crores of rupees. There was special team arranged for taking care of the jewelry. This is the first time that such expensive jewelry was used in any Bollywood movie.

It took nearly two years and a team of two hundred craftsmen to create the ornaments with 400 kilos of gold and precious stones. Only the wedding set worn by Aishwarya Rai (played the role of Jodha) weighed over three-and-a-half kilos. During the entire movie she wore nearly 200 kilos of gold.

It was a mammoth task to recreate the jewelry of the Mughal era. The toughest challenge for the craftsmen as well as the dress designer (Neeta Lulla) came while designing the jewelry for Jodhabai as very little pictorial reference was available of her. They had to refer to other paintings of the same period to learn about the designs of that period. The jewelers researched on old paintings and visited museums and even some private collections of erstwhile royal families. The jewelers kept in mind the distinctive style of the Rajputs and the Mughals while making the ornaments.

Let's know about other period movies of the recent past that boasted of embellishing their heroines with expensive ornaments and costumes.

Umrao Jaan

J.P Dutta's 'Umrao Jaan' presented gorgeous Aishwarya Rai in scintillating melodramatic performance of courtesan. Released in 2006, this finely crafted costume drama was a breed apart from Muzaffar Ali's 'Umrao Jaan' (1980) in terms of spending money on the heroine's costumes.

The film has astronomical budget of costumes worth Rs 80 million ranging from expensive ethnic outfits to embroidered designer wears worn by beautiful Aishwarya Rai. Ash wore stunning golden embroidered outfits with ethnic jewelry while performing on the famous melodious number "Salaam". Even Aishwarya Rai's costumes that she wore in the movie went under the hammer for a charity organization.

Taj Mahal

Akbar Khan not only attempted a historical, but also made a colossal film on one of the seven wonders of the world, Taj Mahal. Naturally, the expectations were as monumental as the subject matter, but unfortunately it failed to perform on the silver screen.

Released in November 2005, this film was then considered the most expensive film of Indian cinema. But the sets, costumes, and jewelry in this film were fantastic and did full justice to the grandeur of the golden era of the Mughals.

The costumes and jewelry, designed by Anna Singh and Tejas Jogani respectively, were adorned the heroine of the film Sonya Jehan to give the royal look of Mumtaz Mahal, the wife of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan.

Devdas

The Sanjay Leela Bhansali's period movie, set in the 1930s, was mega in a way that it had top star cast, expensive sets and costumes. Released in July 2002, 'Devdas' was then considered the most expensive movie in Bollywood. The producer boasted of spending about 100 crores on the film. When you see the film you wonder where was the money spent?

But the fact is Sanjay spent extravagantly on the character of "Paro", played by Aishwarya Rai, with spectacular collection of saris designed by talented Neeta Lulla.

Besides costumes, the jewelry was having an old world charm to it. GoId (matte look), kundan, garnet and art deco jewelry (jewelry that suited the era) were used for the heroine in the film. Aishwarya's wedding sari was a splendid red, maroon and pink shaded with heavy kundan embellishment. Since it is being touted as a visual treat, one had to go larger than life.