Shantanu (right) and Nikhil Mehra have made their mark on the Indian fashion scene

Theirs is a relationship that started with fistfights and developed, over the years, into a close bond. Brothers Shantanu and Nikhil Mehra have buried their playroom differences to start their own fashion label Shantanu & Nikhil, which is famous for its East-meets-West glam quotient. The label’s now five years old and going strong.

Shantanu, the older of the two, studied economics at Delhi’s Hansraj College and went on to do an MBA from the University of Toledo in Ohio. Nikhil, who says he understood his calling early in life, studied at the Pearl Academy of Fashion and then moved to the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles.

Shantanu then started working for General Motors in Detroit while Nikhil took up various projects in LA. He assisted Mary Gray, the owner of St. John Knits, the million-dollar fashion house and even designed for celebrities like Hilary Clinton. Nikhil also worked as a designer for a sportswear company called Flyte Gear sports wear in California.

After a brief stint in the US, the brothers returned home to take a calculated risk in the fashion industry. Shantanu takes care of the business side of the company and Nikhil is the creative head. The brothers like to de-stress occasionally with a game of tennis or golf. While Nikhil likes evenings out with his wife, Shantanu spends time with his five-year-old son on the tennis courts.

Nikhil:

We are essentially very different. It showed right from the time we were studying at Delhi Public School. Shantanu would do well in his studies while I wouldn’t. In fact, I’d often bunk school. He was the scholar in commerce and I was the scholar in painting. He was focused. I was not. He had goals while I was impulsive. We were like chalk and cheese. We also squabbled a lot. At the end of those fights, Shantanu would try to get me into trouble and I’d end up with the spanking.

How would we resolve those fights? After a particularly bad day at school or a fight post-lunch, a game of cricket would calm down things and that’s how we discovered a bond. Shantanu is two years older, but that didn’t matter when it came to our friendship. Our childhood was fun and sports played a critical role. We were both thrown into the pool at the age of four, so that we participated in state championships. Next we got into playing tennis and represented the state. We also began enjoying golf thereafter.

Our fights continued till I went to college. Then there were those days when I’d party. When I left home at night, Shantanu would start studying. And when I returned in the wee hours of the morning, he’d still be at it. He wouldn’t save my skin, so I had to pretend that I’d returned at midnight.

Shantanu used to wear spectacles since early childhood. I remember how I used to make fun of him when he wouldn’t be able to find his way to the bathroom without his glasses. Then in 1988, his eyes were operated upon in Trivandrum. For a month after that, he used to wake up almost blind. It scared me. It was a period of emotional upheaval.

For further studies, we went abroad and that was a difficult time for me. I had initially thought that I wouldn’t like to return to India, but staying in LA for three-and-a-half years made me realise how important relationships are. My brother was particularly supportive even though he was studying in Ohio. That is when we started thinking about returning to India and starting our own label.

Now we share an office, and hardly fight. When you run a business, you can’t afford to fight like little boys. We have our analytical moments when we talk out our differences.

He is the quiet, private one in the family, while I am more open. But he can be surprising in some ways.

Once Shantanu starts partying, it’s difficult to stop him. He can drink everybody under the table. At a Blender’s Pride party, he made sure everyone got so drunk that they had to be carried back to their rooms.

Our relationship really hasn’t changed much over the years, nor have we as individuals. Given the chance, I’d still bunk school and party, Shantanu would still study.

Shantanu:

Nikhil is the more mischievous one. He has always been the guy with his fair share of girlfriends. Also he was not at all focused when it came to studies. There was a point after his class X Boards when Nikhil came to a standstill. He didn’t know exactly what to do. I helped him make a decision, and from then on, he looked at me more seriously. It was a turning point in his life as well as in our relationship.

From the time he joined the Pearl Academy, the metamorphosis in his personality was surprising. I could never imagine my brother committed to anything. But I guess it was only a matter of time before he discovered his creative calling and became focused about fashion.

After I’d worked for some time with General Motors in Detroit, I decided to take a break from the Midwest. I joined Nikhil in LA. I went there to find a job. Instead, I ended up doing research on the Indian fashion industry and where we could fit in. I told Nikhil about my decision to start with menswear couture in 1999. I showed him the business blueprint and flew down to India for a headstart. Nikhil followed soon after.

If I have to describe my brother, I’d compare him to the character played by Hrithik Roshan in Farhan Akhtar’s Lakshya. It’s the perfect example of how Nikhil changed from this lazy boy with no focus to a man of determination.

Photograph by Rupinder Sharma