When Sridevi scorched the fashion scene with a traditional 'madisaru' drape

Long before she was acknowledged as a fashion and style icon, late actor Sridevi scorched the fashion scene in Chennai—then Madras—by wearing a 'madisaru', a nine or 10-yard long sari that older women or women from extremely orthodox Brahmin homes wore. It was for a role that she played in one of her earlier 1981 Tamil films Meendum Kokila; she essayed the female lead Kokila, a young wife and mother of a toddler.

Sridevi was possibly in her teens when she played the role, wearing the madisaru all the way through. This traditional sari style was mostly embraced by older women from extended families. Rarely, the younger members, who hailed from families that tenaciously held on to a harsh, ritualistic style of living, adorned the same. Nowadays, it is confined to Tamil Brahmin women at their own weddings, during the second and third marriages in the form of shashtiabdapurthi (the husband’s 60th birthday) or sadabhishekam (80th birthday), funerals of elders in the family, and in the course of rituals marking a death.

There was never a social media movement to keep the madisaru alive, unlike the regular six yards of unstitched garment. Originally worn without a panty or a petticoat, it is said to provide the comfort of a salwar or pyjama or a pair of jeans; however, attending nature's call was problematic. And because it is not an oft-worn garment, it is mostly a one-off purchase—brides-to-be wear it in the typical deep red or maroon. Others pick up nine-yard saris in synthetic silk or silk cotton. Elder women in the family help the bride drape this for the muhurtam—the auspicious moment.

YouTube has a lot of tutorials on the different ways to wear this cumbersome yet sexy sari that can help the wearer show as much cleavage as she chooses, bare the midriff if she wants to, and even show legs all the way from the feet to the lower part of the thigh. 

Years before Sridevi made it a rage in Madras, veteran South Indian character actor Sowcar Janaki wore the madisaru in a film called Ethir Neechal. In a newspaper report, well-known Chennai-based writer Tishani Doshi chronicled the slowly evolving city clinging on to its culture with Carnatic music, Bharatnatyam and more. The accompanying photo left a deep impression—a young woman rode a scooter wearing a nine-yard sari, donning a crash helmet. But, of course, my first memory of this wonderful drape with a stunning and sexy look would always be that of Sridevi in Meendum Kokila.