Scenes shot in specially designed sets are trending in the Kannada film industry.
If you were stumped by the pillar spewing fire in Rakshit Shetty’s ‘Avane Srimannarayana’, awestruck by the grand metallic chair and pendulums in the introductory song of Dhruva Sarja’s ‘Pogaru,’ and the blazing dance floor in the song ‘Baby Dance Floor Ready’ in Darshan’s just-released 'Roberrt', get ready for more.
While 80 per cent of ‘Roberrt’ and ‘Avane Srimannarayana’ were shot on indoor sets, Shivarajkumar’s ‘Bhajarangi 2’, slated for a May release, is being shot entirely on the sets. An indoor stadium was created for Rakshit Shetty’s forthcoming film ‘Charlie.’
The new trend has pushed up the demand for art directors. Sets offer creative liberty, save time and also help keep the film under wraps, filmmakers say. In the 1960s and 1970s, films would be shot in studios and sets were common, but shooting later went outdoors. The trend has now reversed and directors prefer to shoot on the sets rather than in full public glare.
Tharun Sudhir, director of ‘Roberrt’, says a live location doesn’t always match up to the director’s imagination. “You can create whatever you visualise in your head on a set,” he says. ‘Roberrt‘ was shot on 30 sets.
The pub, forts and forests would not have been possible in ‘Avane Srimannarayana’ without sets, says director, editor and scriptwriter Sachin Ravi. “You can create a certain vibe, and fantasy with a touch of reality to sets,” says Sachin. ‘Avane Srimannarayana’ used 26 sets.
Shivarajkumar-starrer ‘Bhajarangi 2’ was in the news a few months ago when its biggest set, 160 ft high and 100 wide, went up in flames. “That was our biggest set and we had to recreate it twice. Once because of a short circuit that caused a fire and a second time because the pandemic pushed us,” says director A Harsha.
The film was entirely shot on sets with just four days of outdoor shooting. “I wanted to create a fantasy genre with a limited budget. The costumes, colour palette, and the properties match the tone of the set.”
He says everything is in control on a set. “Another advantage is that what happens on the sets stays inside. The surprise element is retained, which is not the case when you shoot outside where people are taking pictures,” says Harsha. His film used 12 to 15 sets.
Puneeth Rajkumar’s next, ‘Yuvarathnaa,’ is largely shot outdoors. “The gym, hospitals, anatomy lab and a corporate office were created. The rest of the script demanded an outdoor shoot,” explains Santhosh Ananddram, director. The film was shot in 80 days in three colleges.
Production designers say they have never had it so good. Mohan B Kere, art director and production head, has been in the industry for 20 years and worked on about 150 films.
“Today, almost 90 per cent of a film is shot on sets. My latest films, ‘Roberrt’ and ‘Pogaru,’ are products of some of our best experiments. The metallic ambience to the introductory song of 'Pogaru' and the glass used in one of the songs in ‘Roberrt’ were one of a kind,” says Mohan.
Sets used on 'Roberrt' cost nothing less than Rs eight crore, he says. “Building a set from scratch requires a host of carpenters, painters, fabricators and thermocol artists. It is a labour-intensive process,” says Mohan. About 30 per cent of the material is reused as it is, while the rest is recycled. “Nothing goes waste,” he adds.
Ullas Hydoor, production designer for ‘Avane Srimannarayana’, says the biggest challenge is to find workers to complete the task within the stipulated time. “We also need floors to build the set. This is why a film city is indispensable in Karnataka,” says Ullas, who has also created sets for the upcoming ‘Avatara Purusha’, ‘Dasara’, ‘Charlie’ and ‘Window Seat’.
“We could never have recreated the feel of the Wild West in ‘Avane…’ but for the sets. They give you the freedom to create the exact visuals that you have in mind,” says Ullas.