'I adore Gauri and Sridevi'

Jewellery designer Maheep Kapoor speaks to Nisha Kundnani about her bonding with Bollywood stars and new projects.

Meet jewellery designer Maheep Kapoor (also Sanjay Kapoor's wife) in a conversation with Nisha Kundnani.

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Tell me about the projects you're doing?
I’m excited about the song I've done in Farah Khan's film Om Shanti Om. Imagine, I've designed jewellery for 15 actresses. It was tough, I had to coordinate with costume designers Manish Malhotra and Surily Goel.

You've designed for a few episodes of Karan Johar's Koffee with Karan and also for Malaika Arora Khan for Nach Baliye. Right?
Yeah, those two projects helped expand my CV tremendously. Karan is a dear friend. He believes in my product and therefore asked me to design for some of the actresses on the show. Participating in Television shows are a great medium for brand promotion. I have people calling me up and wanting to buy what Bebo (Kareena Kapoor) had worn.

You did an ad campaign with Gauri Khan and Sridevi.. you're quite close to them.
I do campaigns with those I look up to. I adore Gauri and Sridevi. Gauri did that just for me for the first and last time.

Do you use your film connections professionally?
It does help to have a good network. It takes time to build one’s reputation and win the trust of clients. Your close friend Neelam Kothari is also a jewellery designer.

Does jealousy ever creep in to your relationship with her?
I believe there is room for everyone in this field. Queenie Dhody too is a dear friend. She's a jewellery designer. Life’s boring without competition.

Women today are buying accessories.. isn't that a threat to the market for real jewellery?
You’re right.. but that's only in Mumbai. That's because women are a lot more casual. But if you go to any other city, you'll see that women still wear jewellery everyday. Delhi is more flamboyant than Mumbai. If you go south, in Chennai, women wear a lot of gold. So the market for real jewellery is huge. Women in Mumbai may not be wearing real jewellery everyday, but they buy and collect valuable stuff. That tradition will always survive in India.