It’s been quite some time since we have seen some lavish art work in Tollywood. But in one of Kalyanram’s upcoming films, Devil, a period drama, what stands out is the expensive set work by art director Gandhi. He says that the film’s art work will transport the audience into the time period in which the film is set – 1940.
“Since the film is a period drama, Gandhi says that the props and sets reflect those times. More than 90 percent of the film is being shot on sets,” he says, letting us know about the magnitude of the artwork that went into the filmmaking.
The film’s pre-production took around two years while it took around nine 9 months for brainstorming sessions and ideations to build all the sets. The makers did three months’ recce with a team of seven members. The team went to Karaikudi (Tamil Nadu), Kerala, Kolkata, Goa, Telangana, Karnataka and Rajasthan and finalised locations.
“A lot of detailing went into the artwork. We have built more than 80 sets including British prison, British office guest house, cargo boat, 40 ft lighthouse at Vizag sea shore, printing press, telecommunications office, travellers bungalow, steam engine train, vintage car, Zamindar palace, heroine house, 1040 Andhra club, printing press, Navy communications, 15 vintage cycles, etc.,” reveals the art director.
He earlier worked for films like Narappa, Sakhini Dakhini, Khiladi, George Reddy, Rakshasudu, Michael, etc. While most of the films are contemporary, his biggest challenge for Devil is to replicate every frame from the 1940s. “The genre itself is a huge challenge. Sourcing props was very difficult; we have to do extensive research to get the artefacts, objects and other art pieces with great difficulty,” he says.
More than 1000 tonnes of each — iron, plaster of paris (PoP) and fibre; vintage wallpapers of more than 10,000 ft, 22 truckloads of wood were used to build these lavish sets,” says the art director.
The art director draws on his years of experience in production design, allowing him to push boundaries while ensuring commercially successful outcomes. When producer Abhishek Nama narrated to him the story of Devil, in which Kalyanram plays a secret British agent, Gandhi could envision it and knew that it takes a lot to come up with superior quality art work.
“The artwork is woven into the narrative as it is also a form of storytelling,” he shares, adding that a thorough understanding of period styles is significant to recreate a true visual narrative.
