Photo: Bollywood Hungama · CC BY 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Ram Charan's Style File: The Mega Star Who Dresses Like Royalty
Most male stars in Indian cinema chase the same red-carpet uniform: a slim tuxedo, a thin tie, maybe a velvet jacket if they're feeling bold. Ram Charan rarely plays that game. When the RRR actor steps onto a global stage, he tends to show up in something stitched in India, cut like armour, and worn with the calm of someone who has nothing to prove. That instinct — Indian craft, sharp structure, zero noise — is what has quietly turned the Telugu superstar into one of the country's most watched dressers.
This style file looks at what Ram Charan's fashion actually stands for: the silhouettes he returns to, the designers he trusts, the accessories that do the talking, and why his approach lands so differently from the logo-heavy crowd.
The bandhgala is his signature, not the suit
If you had to reduce Ram Charan's wardrobe to one garment, it would be the bandhgala — the closed-neck, military-inspired jacket that sits somewhere between a sherwani and a blazer. He wears it constantly, in black, ivory, deep wine and forest green, and it suits his build and his bearing. The high collar lengthens the frame; the clean front line keeps the eye on cut rather than clutter.
What makes it work is restraint. He'll let one element carry the drama — a bit of tonal embroidery, a single ornate button row, a textured fabric like velvet or raw silk — and keep everything else quiet. There's almost never a clash of patterns or a scramble of accessories. The result reads less like a film star at a premiere and more like a young royal at a state dinner.
The Oscars look that put him on every best-dressed list
The clearest proof of his formula came at the Oscars 2023, where RRR's Naatu Naatu was up for, and won, Best Original Song. Charan walked the champagne carpet in a black velvet bandhgala by Shantanu & Nikhil, the Delhi label known for drape, structure and a distinctly modern take on Indian formalwear.
It wasn't a plain jacket. The look carried chakra-inspired medallion brooches and detailed button work, a subtle nod to the freedom-fighter themes of the film that had brought him there. Styled by Nikita Jaisinghani, it managed to feel both ceremonial and contemporary. Beside him, wife Upasana Konidela wore a sari reportedly crafted using recycled silk scrap, so the couple's appearance doubled as a small statement about Indian craft and sustainability on the world's biggest film stage.
The takeaway for fashion watchers was simple. At an event where most international men default to a tux, Charan wore something unmistakably Indian and still landed on global best-dressed round-ups. That is the whole point of his playbook.
The designers and labels he keeps coming back to
Ram Charan's address book reads like a guide to India's premium menswear scene, with a couple of surprises. A few names recur:
- Shantanu & Nikhil — his go-to for structured, drape-led ethnic looks, including the Oscars bandhgala. Their militaristic tailoring matches his taste almost exactly.
- Tarun Tahiliani — a regular choice for classic Indian occasion wear, where rich fabric and clean lines do the work.
- Faraz Manan — the Pakistani couturier whose champagne-toned kurta on Charan got plenty of attention, a reminder that his eye crosses borders when the craftsmanship is right.
There's a thread running through all of them: heritage tailoring over hype. You won't catch him leaning on streetwear collabs or head-to-toe monogram. When he does go Western, it's a well-built, sober suit rather than anything experimental. He treats clothes the way a watch collector treats movements — he wants the make to be excellent, and he's happy to let it speak softly.
Off-duty, he keeps it deceptively simple
The red carpet is the showcase, but Charan's everyday style is arguably more instructive. His airport looks have become their own genre: clean denim-on-denim, a plain crew tee or shirt, a cap pulled low, sometimes a relaxed jacket. Photographers catch him stepping out of a luxury car looking like he spent thirty seconds getting dressed, which is usually the sign of someone who has thought about it carefully.
The palette stays muted — blues, blacks, greys, earthy neutrals — and the fits are comfortable without being sloppy. He grooms the beard, keeps the sneakers understated, and lets one good accessory finish the picture. It's a masterclass in the idea that looking expensive has more to do with fit and grooming than with visible labels.
The watches do a lot of the talking
For a man who keeps his clothes low-key, Ram Charan's wrist is where the flex lives. He is a serious watch collector, and the collection is the stuff of fan spreadsheets. By various media estimates, it spans the heaviest hitters in horology — Richard Mille, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and Rolex — with individual pieces reported to run into several crore rupees.
Reports suggest he wore a Patek Philippe Nautilus in rose gold to the Academy Awards, the kind of detail that watch enthusiasts notice long before they clock the jacket. A Richard Mille tourbillon and a travel-friendly Rolex GMT-Master II are also said to feature in the rotation. Whatever the exact valuations — and these figures are media estimates, not official — the point stands: his timepieces are the loudest thing he wears, precisely because everything else is so quiet.
Why he reads as a style icon, not just a well-dressed star
Plenty of actors hire a stylist and show up dressed well. What lifts Charan into icon territory is consistency and a clear point of view. You can describe his aesthetic in a sentence — structured Indian tailoring, muted palette, one statement piece — and that clarity is rare. Trends move; his lane doesn't.
It also helps that he carries the clothes rather than the other way around. The bandhgala works because of his posture; the plain denim works because of the grooming and the confidence. There's an old-money, almost regal quality to how he presents himself, fitting for someone from one of Telugu cinema's most prominent film families, yet he never looks like he's trying too hard to signal status.
There's a soft-power angle too. Every time he picks an Indian designer for a global event, he's nudging the conversation about what a leading man can wear on the world stage. The Oscars bandhgala did more for Indian menswear visibility than a dozen press releases. As his profile grows beyond the south Indian box office, that choice — Indian craft, worn with total conviction — is shaping up to be his real fashion legacy.
The cheat sheet, if you want to borrow from it
The appeal of Charan's style is that it's repeatable without a star budget. A few principles travel well:
- Buy structure. A well-cut bandhgala or jacket flatters more than any trend.
- Pick one hero. Let a single detail — embroidery, a watch, a texture — carry the look, and keep the rest plain.
- Stay tonal. A muted, coordinated palette always reads more expensive than a busy one.
- Back Indian craft. Heritage tailoring photographs beautifully and ages far better than logo-driven fashion.
That's the quiet lesson in Ram Charan's wardrobe. He isn't the flashiest dresser in Indian cinema, and that's exactly why he's one of the most copied.
