Backstage pass: Film - Hero
Creating movie magic in the Manali snow.
Production designers, Amit Ray and Subrata Chakraborthy, hadn’t worked with Nikhil Advani before. In fact, Amit and Subrata were busy with Haider when Hero was offered to them. “I met Nikhil sir to refuse the film but when he saw my portfolio, he was adamant that I do the film,” reminisces Amit, admitting that the set in Manali was his biggest challenge.
In the film Sooraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty flee from Mumbai to hole up in an abandoned house in Manali. The temperature was minus 12 degrees and the location was in a secluded spot in a gorge, 350 feet down the motorway. The designers had taken 12 days to build the one-bedroom-hall-kitchen apartment with a veranda and garage.
They built a ‘desi daaru bhatti’ for a fight sequence as the action director, Ravi Varma wanted to set a fight sequence between Sooraj and Chetan Hansraj in a local brewery. “Ravi was amazed by the final output,” exults Amit. And for two songs, sets were created at Filmalaya Studio. One, a Gothicstyle pub and the second, with a theatrefeel. “Most of the film has been shot on the sets and it looks beautiful,” asserts Subrata, pointing out that they’ve been associated with Hero for over a year. They’ll be a part of Nikhil’s next film as well. “He is completely sorted and knows his job well. We hardly had to make any last minute changes.”
Production designers, Amit Ray and Subrata Chakraborthy, hadn’t worked with Nikhil Advani before. In fact, Amit and Subrata were busy with Haider when Hero was offered to them. “I met Nikhil sir to refuse the film but when he saw my portfolio, he was adamant that I do the film,” reminisces Amit, admitting that the set in Manali was his biggest challenge.
In the film Sooraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty flee from Mumbai to hole up in an abandoned house in Manali. The temperature was minus 12 degrees and the location was in a secluded spot in a gorge, 350 feet down the motorway. The designers had taken 12 days to build the one-bedroom-hall-kitchen apartment with a veranda and garage.
Amit remembers that at one point, Nikhil lost his cool because they wouldn’t stop working, even during heavy snowfall. “We had to deliver the set on time so we turned a deaf ear to Nikhil sir’s orders. He was angry then, but later appreciated that we stuck to our stringent deadline,” he smiles. Amit and Subrata who designed the ‘Aaj ki party meri taraf se...’ set in Bajrangi Bhaijaan impressed Salman Khan who has produced Hero. “We haven’t spoken to Bhai but he’s told Nikhil sir that the art department has done a great job,” beams Subrata.
They built a ‘desi daaru bhatti’ for a fight sequence as the action director, Ravi Varma wanted to set a fight sequence between Sooraj and Chetan Hansraj in a local brewery. “Ravi was amazed by the final output,” exults Amit. And for two songs, sets were created at Filmalaya Studio. One, a Gothicstyle pub and the second, with a theatrefeel. “Most of the film has been shot on the sets and it looks beautiful,” asserts Subrata, pointing out that they’ve been associated with Hero for over a year. They’ll be a part of Nikhil’s next film as well. “He is completely sorted and knows his job well. We hardly had to make any last minute changes.”
