29 July,2010 11:01 AM IST | | Sheena Thomas
His sets can transport you from one era to another in a jiffy. And this time Omung Kumar is all 'set' to take you on a joy ride to the Kingdom of Dreams a humungous theatre and leisure destination in Gurgaon that launches today.
CS speaks to Omung Kumar, the Indian production designer for the upcoming Common Wealth Games and the man behind film sets like Black, Saawariya, Yuvraaj, to know more about Bollywood's love for everything that's loud and garish:
Size does matter
You need to conform to the need of the film, I guess. Love Story 2050 was a futuristic film while Saawariya was a love story, so I designed sets according to the brief. But I do concede that Bollywood is obsessed with doing things in style. If you're supposed to create a haveli, they'll want it to be huge. The sad part is that all your efforts are forgotten if a film bombs. The elaborate set design of Love Story 2050 went totally unnoticed because the film wasn't a hit!
On my wishlist...
There are a lot of films that I wish I'd done the sets for James Cameron's Avatar for sure is one of them. I thought that the Dev D set design was fantastic a blend of kitsch and colour. I particularly like the Sherlock Holmes sets because they are so realistic. But I do have a bias towards everything that is larger-than-life as in Moulin Rouge. When I'm asked to do the design for events and award functions, I usually go all out, full Moulin rouge ishtyle!
Old isn't gold
On the flip side, there are many films that I haven't enjoyed watching mainly for their bad set design. I don't appreciate repetition. I thoroughly agree with the phrase that God is in the detail. Very often, if a corner is not going to be seen in the camera, designers might not do it up, but that isn't how it should function.
In fact, if you are working under a director like Sanjay Leela Bhansali, he will insist that you do justice to every nook and cranny. I guess, I've grown as a set designer from my dhinchak Jhankar Beats sets to the more toned down and realistic Chameli sets to the much spoken-about Saawariya backdrops.
u00a0
And now I'm all set to try out something new film direction. The project that will kickstart in October will be a fantasy film very colourful, bearing my trademark Moulin Rouge stamp.
