Gen Z’s Ultimate Style Icon? A TV Villain from 2001.
Komolika’s huge bindis, strapless blouses, and bold makeup once signaled a “bad woman.” Now, she’s the blueprint.
In the early 2000s, at 8:30 p.m. every weeknight, households across India would gather around their television sets to watch the campy soap opera Kasautii Zindagii Kay. When you’d hear a woman singing “neka” — later revealed to be Sunidhi Chauhan — you’d know trouble was coming. Twirling her hair, Komolika Basu (Urvashi Dholakia) would give the camera a menacing smirk as an overly explanatory inner monologue would play aloud: “I can trap you very easily, because I’m a very seasoned player of this game.”
Twenty-five later, especially for fans who weren’t even born when the Ekta Kapoor soap premiered on Star Plus in 2001, Komolika is now recognized as the icon she always was. Everything about the villain — from her dialogue to her triple-winged eyeliner, large bindis, and strapless blouses — screams extra. Yet, today, you can find echoes of her style in Lara Raj, Charli XCX, and more. The Juggernaut spoke to fashion designers, makeup artists, and beauty influencers to find out how “Komolika” went from an insult to everyone’s favorite diva.