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[Full title: Aspects of Material Culture (3) Costumes, Jewellery and Cosmetics]

In Sandhyarag, Assamese traditional feminine dress, the mekhela-sador, has been shown in different varieties as part of Kanta鈥檚 bridal attire (Image 10). However, the changing times have been displayed by use of sarees by the young girls in the film. Saru鈥檚 master鈥檚 wife stitches clothes using a sewing machine in the film. Later Saru also learns the craft and is seen sewing her clothes on the machine. The filmmaker has carefully used a shot to demonstrate Moti鈥檚 desire for Saru, where she is seen sewing her torn Sador and Moti as an onlooker. The scene begins with Moti asking Saru if she could sew his torn shirt. Saru, in a lighter tone, asks him why he doesn鈥檛 have anybody to sew his torn clothes. To this Moti replies that if she sews her torn sador and he buys a new shirt, it would be a common thing. A story would evolve only when she sews his torn shirt and he buys a new sador for her.

In Anirban, Nisha sustains herself mostly with clothes which are being passed to her from Jonali, the daughter of Nisha鈥檚 father鈥檚 employer. Nisha鈥檚 mother had saved some money to buy a pair of silk mekhela-sador for her daughter. One day when a seller is passing through their neighbourhood, she buys a pair. Nisha likes the clothes and keeps them to wear on some special occasions. However destiny had some other plans. Nisha falls ill and dies after a few days, without being able to adorn herself with the new clothes. Thus a pair of silk mekhela-sador, beautifully narrates Nisha鈥檚 desires and heartbreak in the film.

Menoka鈥檚 costume and jewellery have been carefully selected in Agnisnan to portray the look of an elite lady. She wears beautiful silk mekhela-sador and Assamese traditional jewellery in the film along with her husband鈥檚 second wife Kiron. As Kiron goes through her menstruation for the first time at her husband鈥檚 place, Menoka asks her if she would like to wash her hair with seeds of the elephant apple. Washing hair with the seeds of elephant apples has been an age-old practice among women in Assam. The filmmaker has used this scene to project Menoka鈥檚 broad hearted nature and nocomplaints attitude towards Kiron.

In Kolahol, women are not seen adorning any kind of sophisticated Assamese clothes like the sador-mekhela. Instead they are seen wearing cheap sarees made of ordinary silk. It has also been observed that women in the neighbourhood drape sarees in different styles. For instance Kiron wears her saree in common Indian style, while two other women wear their sarees in Bengali and Bihari styles (Images 11 & 12). This element itself is an indication of a mixed population in the community which has been used as an important social marker in the film. Apart from clothes, there is another aspect to look at in the film, which is projected at the closure. After her husband deserted her and the son died in an accident, Kiron gradually stopped looking after herself. She is seen devastated in sorrow with uncombed hair and dusty face. When she finally decides to settle down again in her life with a new man, she looks at the mirror again. In the final scene of Kolahol, Kiron has neatly oiled and combed her hair. She puts on a big dot of bright vermillion on her forehead and hair parting. Wearing vermillion like this is a tradition common among Hindu women. This tradition is symbolically used to show the changes of Kiron鈥檚 life, as she is ready to move from darkness to light (Image 13).