Art director Ravinder Reddy's Tollywood story

Hyderabad: As an art director, Ravinder Reddy is always in demand in Tollywood. His works always have that natural quality about them and no one ever thinks that they are actually sets.

Talking about his recent works in Autonagar Surya and Oohalu Gusagusalade, he says, “Many people thought that Autonagar Surya was shot in Vijayawada or in some factory. But most of the film was actually shot on the sets.”

Ravinder adds, “I always discuss the story and the characters with the director. I want my work to look natural and part of the story.” He adds that that’s the reason sometime people don’t notice his work. “I feel happy because people did not realise that it was a set and at the same time I feel sad because people didn’t notice my work,” he says. Ravinder, a BFA graduate from IIT Delhi and holds a Masters in designing, did not have any intention of joining the industry. “After my graduation I came to Hyderabad for work. I was not interested in films, but I used to work for Gunnam Gangaraju’s private company,” he says.

When Gangaraju started working on the film Aithe in 2003, Ravinder was asked to look after the film’s art. He was also introduced to Rajamouli at that time. “For the longest part of my career I have worked with Rajamouli as he gives a free hand to art directors,” adds Ravinder.

Ravinder’s wife Sandhya had actually worked in films before him. She was the costume designer for the Venkatesh-starrer Vasu and other projects. And after marriage, she became a fashion designer. After Rajamouli, Ravinder says that he enjoys working with director Trivikram Srinivas, with whom he had worked on Julayi. But, he believes that his best work was for the film Rajanna. “We got ornaments and other material from Delhi. All the ornaments were real,” he says. He also got a Nandi award for the film. With Eega, Ravinder became the first Telugu to receive an international award, at the Brazil International Film Festival.