There was a time not long ago when the representation of Indians in Western cinema was, at best, throwaway characters. Unlike Murder Mystery 2, these characters appeared in the form of an Uber driver, a nerdy overachieving student, tech support in call centres, medical professionals, and spiritual hippie gurus. In particular, Padma and Parvati Patil’s Yule Ball outfits from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire invoke horrifying childhood memories. Over the years, more accurate depictions of layered and nuanced South Asian main characters have appeared in shows such as Devi Vishwakumar in Never Have I Ever and Kate and Edwina Sharma in Bridgerton Season 2.
That’s not to say that wrongful portrayals haven’t also occurred recently. In the Diwali episode of And Just Like That…, Carrie Bradshaw and her new Indian friend Seema go into a “sari shop” and Bradshaw is shown donning a “sari”. Except, the shop doesn’t just have saris; it has a wide variety of Indian attire, but lehengas are the prevailing outfit depicted. And Bradshaw is not wearing a sari, she is wearing a Falguni & Shane Peacock lehenga. Rightly so, the Indian community pushed back on this false sense of representation.
However, when the upcoming trailer for Murder Mystery 2 dropped, word got around the Internet quickly and people took notice. Due March 31st, to be released on Netflix, the comedy thriller picks up four years after the first movie: Audrey Spitz (Jennifer Aniston) and her husband Nick Spitz (Adam Sandler) are invited by their friend The Maharajah (Adeel Akhtar) to his wedding to Claudette (Mélanie Laurent). It quickly turns from being the destination wedding of the century into a kidnapping heist—where everyone at the wedding, including the bride, is a prime suspect.
The Indian wedding scenes are an integral part of the movie which sets in motion the rest of the storyline. Therefore the production had an on-staff consultant for the set design, music, dances, and outfits to be as authentic as possible.
When the movie’s costume designer, Debra McGuire found out she would be outfitting hundreds of people in Indian attire, she said it was about time. “Murder Mystery 2 was an opportunity to create garments and produce them in India. I came to this project with a lot of experience, which I shared with the director and actors,” McGuire says.
Despite being a non-Indian herself, McGuire is no stranger to Indian culture. “I have been deeply enmeshed in the Indian aesthetic for most of my adult life. My studio is filled with magnificent beaded Indian fabrics that I have collected for many years,” McGuire explains. She has previously created Indian outfits for TV shows like New Girl, custom designs looks from her atelier for private clients and the Academy Awards, and is often asked by friends to be a consultant for their sangeets and wedding event attire.
In an age where everything is easily dissected and picked apart, the cast’s wedding looks and their respective designers quickly went viral. Throughout the trailer, Audrey is seen wearing a white Manish Malhotra lehenga alongside Nick, dressed in a matching white sherwani. While welcoming her guests to the festivities on the maharaja’s private island, Claudette wears an intricately beaded Papa Don’t Preach by Shubhika kurta and pants in traditional bridal red.
Through her research and travels, McGuire found Manish Malhotra and connected with his team over WhatsApp. After seeing Papa Don’t Preach by Shubhika in person at the Los Angeles store KYNAH in turquoise, McGuire says, “I was attracted to the one-shoulder design and creative beadwork. Papa Don’t Preach has a unique design and stands out as the most hybrid and creative.” 20 other outfits featured in the movie come from the store, run by Aisha Rawji.
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