From 'Madhumati' to 'Devdas', here are 7 visually stunning Indian films

Films create worlds. Realistic worlds, maybe, but still transcending reality.

In a way, each film then is a masterpiece of illusion. After all, ‘Cinema is the most beautiful fraud in the world,’ said Jean Luc-Godard.

Each film’s director has a certain vision and every single person associated with the movie rallies behind him to make that vision come true. The main architects of the illusion are the art Production and set design guys. They set the scene, they create the backdrops, they make universes small enough to fit on 70 mm reel. For every movie that stuns with its beauty, there is a team of passionate people working behind-the-scenes, scouting out locations, sketching, painting, building.

Then again no film can look good unless it is shot well, with intelligent camera work and effective lighting. It might be too technical for a lay audience to notice, but cinematography can make or break a film. No breath-taking vista can save a director unless his cinematographer has the skill to capture it in all its nuance and glory. 

In India, the golden standard for sheer designing brilliance (I refer to sets) has always been K. Asif’s  It inspired several to take to the craft of set design, including Nitin Chandrakant Desai, 4-time National Awards (Rajat Kamals) winner in Production design, for films as Lagaan, Devdas, and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.

But it is hardly the only Indian film that has aesthetic appeal! Taking inspiration from a list of beautiful movies from all over the world, here we give you a list of 7 beautiful Indian ones:

1. Dil Se (1998)

The last of Mani Ratnam’s acclaimed ‘Terror Trilogy’, after Roja and Bombay, Dil Se combines a passionate story of one man’s love with a tale of terrorism and conflict in India’s magnificent North-East region.

The film opens on a rain-drenched, wind-whipped Halflong station, before moving to the iconic ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya ’ atop a Nilgiri Mountain Railway train to Ooty. It then moves to a picturesque Assam, rustic, verdant green.

The title song has stunning scenic imagery, such as a suspension bridge over a clear green river on the one hand and barbed wire and burning fires on the other. In their midst, Koirala glows in elusive waif-like beauty.

As Amar Verma’s love- lorn pursuit of Meghna continues, we travel to Leh during the Sindhu Darshan festival, before moving into the stark landscapes of Ladakh.

Picture-postcard Ladakh shots feature, such as those of Buddhist monasteries (Thikshey, Basgo , Alchi) and the startlingly blue Pangong Lake. But it is in silver moonlit desert dunes that the one of the movie’s most tender moments takes place.

The camera moves to the capital next, grimy old Delhi, and squeaky clean Rajpath both on full display, as the story itself winds down to moderate civilisation. 

The sensuous and mildly incongruous distraction ‘Jiya Jale’ has for its backdrop a scintillating Kerala, with Athirappilly Falls and Periyar National Park, and a circle of elephants, for good measure.  

This film’s art direction was done by Samir Chanda, who also worked in Guru, Dil Se, Omkara, Rang De Basanti and Raavan.

2. Lootera (2013)

Set in the post-Raj era of decaying Zamindars, Vikramaditya Motwane’s Lootera was based in part on O Henry’s whimsical short story The Last Leaf.

1950s Bengal comes to life in this film, shot at various locations all over Kolkata- including the Jain temples of Deulghata and the Royal Palace of Khanyan or Itachuna Rajbari. Set pieces too remain in harmony with the age.

Warm tones and sharp contours weave through the first half of the film, with Paki and her Zamindar father living in genteel elegance. At the point of the heroine’s heartbreak, the scenes too take on a sombre hue. A tamer, cooler colour palette, softer lights- winter, a silent Dalhousie.

The most charming thing about the film’s art direction is this perfect accord of scene to sentiment, of character to colour.  

The art direction team, led by Aditya Kanwar, faced a lot of trouble for this one. Here are their travails with the much-needed snow for the second half of the film:

Click here to read more about Aditya Kanwar’s journey as Lootera’s art director. 

3. Madhumati (1959)

The most commercial of Bimal Roy’s ventures, the reincarnation melodrama Madhumati was a huge success, earning 9 Filmfares, of which best Art Direction was one.

The opening frame is one of rain, as the car carrying Dilip Kumar’s character breaks down in the middle of a forest.

As they enter a ruined old mansion, the atmosphere is perfect noir, the set spooky but not overdone. A lighted hallway has latticed black shadows, and the detailing is accurate. The sets of the forest manager’s bungalow and Madhumati’s home have an authenticity to them, and as Madhu wanders from hill to hill, we feel the mist on our skin, breathe in the fresh scent of the pines and sense vast open spaces and skies.

Madhumati was shot near the foothills of the Himalayas in Ranikhet, Uttarakhand. But after processing of the reel, the shots came out hazy, requiring a re-shoot near Nashik, complete with fake pine trees and mist effects.

The art director was Sudhendu Roy, known for his realistic set design in other Bimal Roy films such as Sujata.

His daughter Sharmishta Roy too is an award-winning art director, for popular spectacles such as Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham and Taal. 

4. Jodhaa Akbar (2008)

Could there be a word more synonymous with opulence than the Mughals? Ashutosh Gowariker’s spectacular period piece is filled with architectural gems as well as magnificent sets crafted by Nitin Desai.

Agra and Fatehpur Sikri, cities where Akbar the Great ruled from are brought to life in this history-meets-romance epic. To get the required level of grandeur, exterior shots of forts such as Jaipur’s Amer fort were taken, while massive sets for interiors were created by art director Desai at Karjat.

The completed structure was as massive as a seven-floor highrise, and included a 50 feet tall replica of the wall of the Agra Fort, containing the Amar Singh Darwaza, Daiwan-i-Am, Diwan-i-Khaas, and the residential palaces of Jodhaa and Akbar.

The notorious Sheesh Mahal makes an appearance in this film as well, recreated using about two million glasses and mirrors. Period pieces are especially difficult to create sets for, with history buffs suspicious from the get-go. But this film manages to attain a unique blend of visual richness and authenticity.

Watch: The making of the movie:
 

5. Parineeta (2005)

Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s tale of tender love, jealousy, and greed was brought to life by first-time director Pradeep Sarkar, also one of the art directors for the film, along with Keshto Mandal and Tanushree Sarkar.

Again Kolkata, beloved by the artist and the auteur, in a 1962 garb, with the two houses of the two families standing in contrast to each other. One, Lolita’s decaying haveli, white walls, a minimal but elegant décor, a wooden staircase creaky with age, the rooms old-fashioned and charmingly characteristic of the age.

Then there is Shekhar’s mansion; grand and forbidding. Outside a swing, in a nod to Satyajit Ray’s immortal Charulata, whose swing scene is considered the finest of its kind. A beautiful piano and Classical busts lie in Shekhar’s room, a clear nod to the almost-European young hero played by Saif Ali Khan.

Parineeta translates the Kolkata vibe of the 60s, with its melange of modernism, cabarets and all, and traditionalism. “Art direction is my profession and passion’, said Pradeep Sakar in an interview once,” I frame very naturally. It's a gift. It's not a pesha for me, it's a nasha.“

Probably what got Parineeta the Best Art direction award in the 2006 Filmfares.

6. Pyaasa (1957)

This seminal work by Guru Dutt shows a poet struggling in a world with no poetry in it, but the film itself does not lack for poetic effect.

Scene after scene unfolds in the stark black and white medium that is so much better than coloured frames for once. Perhaps for this film, more credit must be given to the cinematographer V.K. Murthy as scenes flow smoothly and seamlessly, in fluid artistry.

There is the riverside scene in which the protagonist, Vijay, first encounters Gulabo, and in the silent streets he follows her through.

Also of note is the meticulously crafted set of the dream sequence which pays tribute to Raj Kapoor’s Awara, the first to debut this kind of setting in Indian cinema. Replete with wrought-iron gates and lamp-posts and a staircase leading to a large (obviously fake) moon.

Then there are the houses of the red light area, which, where they lack in authenticity, contribute in surreality as backdrops for the song ‘Jinhe Naaz Hain Hind par Wo Kahaan hain’

The most notable of course is the Town hall where Vijay comes ‘alive’ again, framed in a lighted doorway; and the last speech to his former lover in the silent, strangely appropriate library, with papers flying out with apt dramatic effect as he walks away.

The art director for this film was Biren Nag, who also directed Chuadvin ka Chand (Filmfare Best Art Direction, 1960)

7. Devdas (2002)

When you speak of spectacular Indian production design, one cannot leave out almost any of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s cinematic creations. And what better representation of his artistic vision than the resplendent Devdas?

Bhansali was aware of the risks he was taking adapting Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s immortal tragedy yet again. Nitin Desai was told that Devdas ‘would be more of a visual film as the book had been transformed into films nine times by different filmmakers in past.’ So for this one, Bhansali and Desai adopted a glamorous yet authentic approach.

Indeed the story wends its way through a multi-hued Kolkata that feels real enough, so cleverly designed that no one would be able to tell that they were all sets in Mumbai’s Film City.

There is Devdas’ house in shades of green, yellow and white, his room itself peppered with flowers, a piano and a curious number of goldfish bowls. It is all refinement and genteel taste.

Then there is Paro’s room, with stained glass windows, all with the same shades of pink and blue. 1.22 lakh pieces of stained glass were used to make this particular room, and the whole haveli itself cost Rs 3 crores.

But the most magnificent of them all is Chandramukhi’s Kotha, opening like a golden flower onto an artificial lake. It is airy, golden, with mirror curtains and fountains, creating a heady atmosphere of light and shimmering beauty. This creation, based on the Dilwara Temple in Rajasthan, cost a whopping Rs 12 crores. It was so incredible that it was retained at Film City at the special request of the then Maharashtra Governor PC Alexander.

The Thakur’s palatial mansion, where Paro reigns unhappily as Thakurain is imposing and elaborate, in shades of blue and brown. Heavy brocades, gilding, chandeliers- Bhansali leaves us in no doubt of the Thakur’s extreme wealth, and Paro’s lack of freedom.

The place turns joyful just once throughout the film, during the Durga Puja celebrations, where Paro and Chandramukhi dance to the popular ‘Dola re dola’ song, with a backdrop of red.

The most moving thing for this author though, was the effect of the cascading delicate orange flowers that cover Devdas as he lies dying under the tree. Beautiful!

This film notched its art director yet another National Award, as well as honours from the Art Directors Guild (ADG) Film Society and American Cinematheque, both in the USA.

Sidebar: Bhansali incorporated very similar scenes in Devdas (above) and Bajirao Mastani (below)

Bajirao Mastani (2015)