Gorgeous in a sari: Sabyasachi Mukherjee picks his top five women

We asked one of India's finest fashion designers, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, who he thought carried off the sari with most grace and sophistication? Mukherjee listed out five women. Read on!

Sabyasachi Mukherjee sells age-old Indian sensibilities and aesthetics to India. The 39-year-old designer's Bollywood work, be it styling Vidya Balan or Rani Mukerji, is a further testimony to that. For someone who believes in the power of traditional Indian craft, weaves and fabrics, Mukherjee is apt to pick five women who carry the sari with grace and sophistication. Here are his women:

Maharani Gayatri Devi

She was the epitome of casual royalty. Hers is an eternal style. The saris she wore gave her an authoritarian look but at the same time, she looked soft, modest and approachable.

Indira Gandhi

The ultimate power dresser! I think one has to learn it from her, honestly. Sonia Gandhi is good, too, but she's not a patch on her mother-in-law. Indira was in a different league altogether. 

Smita Patil

To begin with, she had a terrific screen presence. There can never another Smita Patil. Then comes her style and aura. She looked gorgeous in saris. She used to wear them with great poise. 

Dimple Kapadia

I loved when she went through her cotton sari phase. She used to look lovely. She is another woman incredibly beautiful but completely at ease with herself.

If you look at Dimple, it is also her life experiences and life choices -- of marrying early, having kids and leaving the film industry when she could have been the next big superstar. She has a bittersweet, mellowed, age-good-wine quality about her. She is neither a diva nor a commoner. She is somewhere in between -- which is perfect positioning.

Mallika Sarabhai

What a fantastic dancer! And how elegant she looks in saris! She has a mesmerising personality, which is further enhanced by her social activism and her support of various civil causes. There is something about her that suggests grace.