An artistic spell

Award-winning art director Ravinder Reddy has once again cast his magic over Tollywood. Be it the village set in Mahanubhavudu, the 300-year-old period set in Anushka Shetty-starrer  Bhaagamathie or the interior design in Sammohanam, Ravinder’s production design has hogged the limelight.

Apparently, his art work in the interiors of a star actor’s house has been getting rave reviews.

“It’s a great feeling to get appreciation for your art work in a small budget film like Sam mohanam. We tried to elevate the visuals by using different colour palettes and things worked out, but it’s a team effort,” shares Ravinder, adding, “The best compliment I got for the film was from Aditi Rao Hydari, who asked about the production design the first day that she walked on to the sets.”

Apparently, the film’s director Indraganti Mohan Krishna was not keen to have him on board because of budget issues, but the art director was eager to work for the film because he liked the subject and knew the director personally. Ravinder admits that for  Bhaagamathie, building a 300-year-old house set in 50 days was challenging.

“The house had to look contemporary as well because the story was being told in the modern era,” says Ravinder, adding, “We used latex to built the sculptures of Goddess Lakshmi and the lion so that they looked bold.”

With computer graphics (CG) being used for several shots, are art directors losing their sheen?

“Monitoring and getting the right output in CG is an uphill task and no one is willing to take that responsibility. Moreover, original art looks realistic and elevates the film’s scale and scope,” explains Ravinder, who is a BFA graduate from IIT Delhi and holds a Masters degree in Design.

His forthcoming projects include Sharwanand films, directed by Sudheer Babu, another starring Naara Rohith and Prabhas’ untitled romantic drama under director Radhakrishna of Jil fame.

HT06