Art of direction
PREMA MANMADHAN
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Raja Unnithan plans to switch from art direction to directing films.
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My film is about the identity crisis in young women. Raja Unnithan
Those Anglo Indian settings and the Seventies' furniture; what the walls were decorated with and all that highlighted the negative vibes that filled a house with three sad hearts: All these won Raja Unnithan the State Film Award for the best art director of `Akale.' Raja is ecstatic that his first independent venture on the big screen won him such recognition.
Hindi movie
Happy days are already here for Raja as his fortunes are certainly on the upswing. In Bollywood, busy with the work of his next project, a Hindi movie that he will direct, Raja says all credit should go to the `Akale' team, especially director Shyamaprasad, its cinematographer, S. Kumar and producer Tom George.
"I was involved with the research for `Akale' with Shyamji, my guru, and suddenly he says, `Why don't you do the art direction?' I was stunned and took it up," says the 29-year-old from Karunagappally, who grew up in Karnal, Haryana. He did his art course in the Fine Arts College, Thiruvananthapuram, all the while, doing work for serials and telefilms.
The `Akale' experience was great, an excited Raja says. "We would meet in cafes and discuss every aspect of the scenes, so that everything was authentic. I read the book, `Glass Menagerie' by Tennessee Williams first. We surfed the Net and studied costumes and furniture from the 70s. We even saw movies of the seventies to get it right."
In a period film like `Akale,' art direction is very important for much hinges on the settings and getting them can be quite a task. Thus it makes the award doubly sweet for the debutant. "I was always known in school for my love for the arts. Yes, I hated Maths," says Raja, whose ambitious directorial dreams are taking shape in Bollywood.
His Bollywood film is being produced by his childhood friend, Amit Garg, an industrialist. The story, script and direction is by Raja.
"It is about the identity crisis in young women. Ten years from now, I believe women will rule the world, supported by technology. Everything is in their favour, but women cannot digest it, having been brought up in a different way. My story is in this background and the central character is a 22 year-old girl," says Raja.
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