Many production designers feel recreating the olden era for a period film is more difficult than designing sets reflecting the trendy era. However the experience turned out to be otherwise for Muneesh Sappel, who worked on sets based in three different time zones for “Teri Meri Kahaani”.
“Making a period set and modern set is both tough. In a period set, your audience doesn’t have much knowledge, so that they ignore or oversee some mistakes. But in modern period, everyone knows, so it's tougher,” Sappel told IANS.
Directed by Kunal Kohli, the film, starring Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, is a love story spanning three different eras — 1910, 1960, and 2012.
Sappel said it was important for him to know his director’s vision.
“Every time we work with a brand new person, it will be significant for us to grasp his story because we help a director tell his story. I NEEDED to turn Kunal Kohli’s perspective. This was the most important challenge,” he said.
Sappel, who has earlier worked on films like “Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi” and “Bhoothnath”, says proper research goes behind creating the best sets for a film.
“You research the period. How where was, which region are you talking about, how people stayed there, what sort of transport system, temples after which plan how we show it.”
“We wish to see what the film requires… so that it will research on internet, see old films or see your personal old films and take a look at and improve the work,” he added.
However, Sappel stressed at the incontrovertible fact that the size of production design is directly proportional to a movie’s budget.
“Sometimes we wish to buy a Mercedes, but have money for Maruti. That is the challenge faced by cinema. You regularly design your character in step with your budget. That is the magic of cinema. It's important to work consistent with budget so you manage the film well. We did this in ‘Teri Meri Kahaani’ also,” he said. – IANS
