Setting it straight

Let's applaud those who made the film sets come alive — the production designers. This new breed of designers absorb the script, explore locations and bring the filmmaker’s vision alive on screen.

Did you fall in love watching Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor in the locales of Manali in Jab We Met (2007)? Or did you secretly crave for Farhan Akhtar’s house in Rock On!! (2008)? We’re sure watching Deepika Padukone restore beautiful old havelis in Love Aaj Kal (2009) must have made you dream. If yes, then applaud those who made the film sets come alive — the production designers. This new breed of designers absorb the script, explore locations and bring the filmmaker’s vision alive on screen.

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Shashank Tere, who has designed the sets of Rock On!!,Delhi Belly, Crooked and Stepmom says, Production design has changed a lot since the ’80s. Now, we sit with the director and discuss the script, the subject and even the costumes.”

About Farhan Akhtar’s house in Rock On!!, he says, “His character is that of a successful investment banker running away from his past. I designed his house so that even though it was beautiful and chic, there was something missing. The décor was minimal reflecting that too much perfection is bad.”

The biggest challenge for a designer is to recreate locales and the atmosphere of one city in another. Wasiq Khan, who has designed for films like Black Friday (2004), Wanted (2009), Dabanng and Tanu Weds Manu says, “For Lamha, I had 45 days to create Srinagar in Mumbai. It took a lot of effort because we had to bring truckloads of utensils and chinar leaves to Mumbai from Kashmir.”