‘For me, every set is a challenge’
SAVITHA GAUTAM
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Set designer Thota Tharani considers ‘Sivaji: The Boss’ his magnum opus.
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Photo: R. Shivaji Rao
Has best of both worlds: Thota Tharani at his office.
The office room mirrors the artist’s persona. Books on travel, art and architecture and set designing are neatly arranged on the shelves. The walls are adorned with paintings and sketches, the logo for ‘Vande Mataram’ standing out.
On one side of the room is placed a low table in the middle of a carpet with drawing paper, a Faber-Castle pencil set and a pencil and brush stand to complete the picture. In the middle of the room stands Thota Tharani, his trademark beard and unruly hair in place, clad in an elegant white Muzzafar Ali kurta, looking every inch an artist.
“That table was a gift from my father when I was six. All my set designs are born there,” he says with a touch of sentiment. And then, “I am planning to shave off my beard. I am tired of looking like an artist!”
Beard or no beard, Tharani is the man who can create a mythological Indralok with the same passion as he can a modern glasshouse that throws up the colours of the rainbow or the Dharavi slum in a studio.
‘Sivaji’s’ success
Tharani is currently basking in the success of ‘Sivaji: the Boss,’ which he considers to be his magnum opus to date in his 40-year career. Ready to reveal some of the secrets behind the stylish and often incredible look of ‘Sivaji,’ the maverick art director says, “It has been one and a half years of very hard work. I am happy people have noticed my work in the film.”
Well, one cannot but help notice the Babylonian-inspired backdrop for the song ‘Vaji Vaji’ or the now famous transparent domes for ‘Sahana.’
“Do you remember the grass and the brown background during the fights? Well, all that was a set.” He goes on, “The street where the music store is located, the interiors of the heroine’s home, the newspaper godown, Suman’s office room they were all created in the studios!”
Of course, one set which really stood out were the transparent geometrical shaped domes for the ‘Sahana song,’ complete with a see-through grand piano and waterfalls in the backdrop to add a touch of exotica. How did he manage that? “Actually, I had attended a symposium in Japan in 1991, and there I had designed with such a concept for a presentation. It was based on the theme, ‘Living in Seasons.’ When Shankar told me what he had in mind for the song, I remembered that design. I worked around that concept and came up with the domes in the shapes of a circle, pyramid and square.”
The 50ft high sets were erected on the largest floor of Ramoji Rao Film City in Hyderabad in 30 days, using glass and acrylic. Incidentally, ‘Vaji Vaji’ too was filmed in the same studio.
Tharani, who rates his work for ‘Anjali’ (remember the apartment building?), ‘Nayakan’ (Dharavi recreated in Chennai), ‘Satya,’ ‘12 B’ (the four seasons for one song were created at the AVM Studios), and now ‘Sivaji’ as some of his best. “For me, every set is a challenge, a creation of art and is dear to me. And geometric patterns fascinate me.”Tharani is all fired up about his current project, the Vadivelu starrer, ‘Indiralogathil Na. Azhagappan.’ It’s a mythological set in Indralok.
The Padmashri awardee says, “After a long time, I am doing a set for a mythological and am enjoying it.” One got a chance to actually see the sets at close quarters at Prasad Studios. Giant sized pillars with elephant heads lit from within, ornate chandeliers, a throne and a swimming pool — a truly amazing Indra sabha! Besides this, he has the much-awaited ‘Dasavataram,’ and five others.
Ask him about ‘Dasavataram’ and all he’s willing to say is, “It’s a great experience to work with Kamal Hassan.”
Happiest moments
Tharani, whose happiest moments were meeting Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber (“My daughter is a huge fan of his”), draws inspiration from art directors, some from Hindi cinema and others whom he got to interact with when he roamed the Venus Studios as a child — his father Thota Venkateswara Rao, Achrekar, and Bihari Bhai. “It was Bhai who taught me how to get that lived-in effect while designing sets.”
Of course, his all-time favourite is the ‘Oscar’ designer Cedric Gibbons. “His work for ‘Wizard of Oz’ has proved to be a template for so many films later on. Take the use of green colour to depict the future in the ‘Matrix’ films. Gibbons had used long before in ‘Wizard…’ I also love the work of Ken Adams.”
The painter in Tharani is as fascinating as the art director. Does his film career have an impact on his art? “Well, I have never really been accepted as an artist. But that does not bother me. I have the best of both worlds. I work at my pace and on my terms,” says Tharani, before signing off.
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