Art director Aashrita Kamath talks about working on 'Avatar' sequels

In 2009 when James Camerons Avatar hit theatres art director Aashrita Kamath was still a rookie working at a Mumbai production house making ad films I remember being blown away by the power and beauty of the world of Pandora how the design was so detailed with every facet building up to a cohesive whole she saysAashrita Kamath with director Jacob Andersen and cinematographer Sara Ross SamkoLater Kamath went on to work in the art department of films like the 2010 British comedydrama West is West and Farhan Akhtars Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara the following year but fantasy remained a genre that held intrigue Serendipitously she bagged a job in the art department of The BFG directed by Steven Spielberg and designed by Rick Carter who had codesigned Avatar Later I also got a chance to work on films with Stefan Dechant who had worked on Avatar And now Im art directing the sequels mdash 2 3 4 and 5 Life seems to have come a full circle gushes the 30yearold who now lives in Los AngelesAs an art director and production designer on set Kamaths job involves understanding the plotline and then creating a world around it I try to look at the world of the film from the inside to inhabit it and make sure it is driven by an internal logic Each new fantasy world is an opportunity to allow the viewer to uncover a new truth about our real world she saysIn fact her initiation into fantasy happened early on when as a student at Rishi Valley School a boarding school in Andhra Pradesh she would devour books by JRR Tolkein and Roald Dahl What she enjoyed most was the vividness with which the worlds were created I felt as though I was on an adventure with the characters she says Its this sentiment that she wants reflected in the film The best designs she believes usually stem from a deep understanding of the story since this is what the audience is ultimately connecting with However the viewer can also be picky she cautions They can identify and reject gratuitous design instantly So it has to be fantastical yet believable she saysIts for this reason that Kamath has been investing long hours collaborating with cinematographers and visual effects teams to maintain a coherent link between the look at a production level to what ultimately appears as the final film And having cinematographer Farhad Ahmed Dehlvi as husband comes in handy considering its easy to bounce off ideas and seek feedback Interestingly their love story goes back to their days at boarding school and continued even though they crossed continents for workThese days our schedules are unconventional though we embrace it and take the time off whenever we can The couple normally avoids bringing work home But we know that we have each others ear if one of us has had a trying day she smiles In fact they recently worked together on I See You a short film directed by filmmaker Manjari Makijany For Kamath the most interesting part of the process is the the research phase of a film that provides her with the opportunity to delve into the source material and kickstart the design process Sometimes the references are specific For instance for the Boneyard set in Hong Kong we looked at a lot of textural references for how whale bones looked as they aged what would be growing on them since we wanted to work that texture into the carving of the bones she saysBut when it comes to Avatar Kamath wants to keep the design references a secret All I can say is that its going to be thrilling ride I feel James Cameron has upped the ante with every film hes made from Terminator to Titanic to Avatar the Avatar sequels will be no different Despite this Kamath has her eyes set on India Back home there is new wave of quality cinema that is being noticed the world over I look forward to the possibility of working with them in the near future