Actress Vidya Balan is known for her admiration for silk saris and when she took out time to meet textile designer Gaurang Shah’s weavers, she was lucky enough to be coached about textile creation and every aspect of weaving technique.
When Vidya expressed her desire to meet Gaurang’s weavers and experience hand-woven textiles, he drove her around various villages in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
“As I stepped into Shah’s weaver’s village and entered the first master weaver family pit loom, I was greeted with the gentle and steady rhythmic clicking of simple bamboo looms. This weaving technique was as ancient as the intricate patterns that are produced by Shah’s Jamdani weaver,” Vidya said in a statement.
“I stood in awe and watched the exquisite art of weaving in progress in absolute silence as the story of weaving was unfolding step by step,” she added.
What amazed Vidya the most was the way the threads comprising the warp and weft were tied with immaculate precision.
“It was fascinating and engrossing journey,” recalled Vidya, who also learnt that Jamdani can now be woven with a combination of silk and cotton or even just silk.
