Azmeri Haque Badhan’s many looks for Netflix’s Khufiya

Written, directed, and produced by Vishal Bhardwaj, Khufiya is a Netflix original neo-noir based on Amar Bhushan's spy thriller, Escape to Nowhere. Among the names of prominent Bollywood bigwigs such as Tabu, Ashish Vidyarthi, and Ali Fazal is the name of Bangladesh's very own, Azmeri Haque Badhan.

Rehana Maryam Noor's brightest star, Azmeri Haque Badhan shares, "I'm playing the role of a Bangladeshi in the film. Vishal's casting director Gautam first saw me in a photograph with Anurag Kashyap at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021 and reached out for an audition". Once selected, Badhan's work for Khufiya first took her to Delhi and then to Mumbai in 2022.

Badhan's looks in the movie are on the simpler side. "Vishal does not like a lot of makeup on his heroines anyway so I mostly did my makeup myself," confides Badhan. "It was nothing but some kajal and lip gloss." She did wear hair extensions to create the illusion of fuller, longer hair.

The movie is not set in the current times, so the fashion trends are also reminiscent of yesteryears. "I'm mostly seen in the movie — it's set in winter — wearing a pullover over kurtis and jeans with a scarf thrown in to complete the look".

The cotton kurtis were designed in simple cuts as they were meant to be worn by the character at work. The pieces were designed by their in-house costume designer, Karishma.

Badhan expresses unbounded joy at Vishal's request that she wear authentic Bangladeshi jamdani in one particular scene of the movie.

"This is nothing but his love for authenticity — casting a Bangladeshi for a Bangladeshi role, having her wear clothing that is representative of that country when attending a special function." Badhan confirms that the saris were procured from the popular Bangladeshi brand, ZAAYA.

"Two identical saris were taken," she mentions. "Vishal knew there was a possibility one would get ruined in the shooting of the scene." The saris, considering their make, came quite expensive and Badhan finds it admirable of the director to go to such lengths for the sake of authenticity.

"He wanted the Cannes look, plain and simple," the actress admits. "The colour of the sari is also comparable to what I wore to the film festival and the updo is similar. I am wearing statement earrings and my eyes are heavily lined with kajal. So, you can tell, that it was inspired by the Cannes festival look."