JOIN USRemember the elaborate and deeply detailed sets of Ashutosh Gowarikar’s period films Jodhaa Akbar and Lagaan or Vikramaditya Motwane’s vintage look in Lootera, Anurag Kashyap’s crowded Gangs of Wasseypur or Abhinav Kashyap’s rustic Dabangg, Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Saheb Biwi aur Gangster Returns or even Anurag Basu’s Barfi? All these films have one thing in common – authentic costumes, realistic sets
and props selected with utmost care.
Unlike films of the 60s, 70s and even some in the 80s, the contemporary films are way more realistic. The sets range from basic to humongous but pay lots of attention to the
‘authentic’, enhancing the script manifold.
If Lootera focused on vintage cars, and high-waisted trousers on the heroes, Lagaan created a whole village which was detailed to the core. Set in the British era, the film found its credit in its varied costumes and sets which complemented the script. The dhotis, cotton lehengas, the village were tailored to perfection. Metrolife tracks the trend.
Lav Trivedi, an art director and a set designer who designed the set for Yeh Saali Zindagi says, “Earlier, the sets and costumes were very dramatic but not real. One could easily guess that it is a fake wall or a fake set. But now, things have changed and people are putting a lot of money into films and hence they want everything perfect, according to the script.”
A costume designer is typically brought into a production by the director at a very early stage. The designers sketch out all the scenes and characters to see how they’ll fit in and then build a model of each scene and character. It also involves frequent meetings with the director, the lighting designer and production manager. And the sets and costumes may further be changed once the rehearsals begin.
Costume designers too start working at the beginning of pre-production. They are in charge of designing, creating, acquiring and hiring all costumes for actors and extras.
Barnali Rath who has designed costumes for critically acclaimed films like I Am Kalam and Jalpari, says, “I like to do more realistic films rather than the typical Bollywood masala films because your authenticity is valued and it is a challenge to bring
authenticity on camera.”
Are their any costumes in a recent work which she feels may have been outstanding? “Deepika Padukone’s costumes in Chennai Express are great. They were typical designs but also had a glamour quotient with Deepika showing some skin and her fabulous figure. The fittings too were great.”
S N Sahoo, another production designer who has assisted Nitin Desai on films like Devdas, Lagaan, Bhagat Singh and Hum Dil De Chuke Saman, says, “Making sets for films is a very tiring job. It take up all your time and energy. But, now with the involvement of technology things have become a bit easier. But, it is always difficult to recreate the past era for a film. There is a lot of paper work and hard work involved in set designing nowadays.” And its showing!