Arundhati palace: Some interesting facts

Everyone who has watched Arundhati (also spelt as Arundathi or Arunthati) is dazed by three things: first, Anushka and her aesthetically-created costumes and jewellery; second, the seamless CGI and SFX; third, the awe-striking palace! Most�believe that the flashback scenes of the film showing a flamboyant palace were shot in a real palace! But they were shot in a grand set built�in Annapurna Studios. It took sheer hard work and a fortune to build it! Here is�the full�story:

Director Kodi Ramakrishna and producer N. Radha wanted to show a grand fort on top of a hill with aesthetically-built interiors. First, they thought of shooting in a real palace or fort, but since it is impossible to change the interiors according to the storyboard, they gave up the idea. Instead they decided to shoot the indoor scenes in a grand set and the outdoor scenes in some real fort.

For the palace scenes, the unit erected a massive set in Annapurna Studio on an area measuring 250 x 250 feet. The aesthetically built set – which makes your eyes pop out in surprise – cost an astronomical�Rs. 85 lakhs and took 4 months to build! Just imagine the reaction of the set-builders when it had to be destroyed to film the scenes in which the palace appears dilapidated!

The Fort of Banganapally perched atop a hill suited the script aptly and the unit decided to shoot the outdoor scenes there. It was in a condition unfit to shoot flashback scenes that show a grand fort, but it was too good to appear as a rundown fort shown in the latter half of the film. So the unit glossed over the entire fortress and shot all relevant outdoor scenes; later, they had to scrape the gloss off and deface it with some patchwork, to give it a dilapidated look to shoot the film’s latter half! Though the reverse of this procedure might have saved some money, the unit was forced to adopt this method due to some schedule problems. The whole gloss-on-and-off process cost the producers more than Rs. 50 lakhs! Plus the cost to restore the fort’s natural look!

We have to congratulate the filmmakers for undertaking so many hardships to make this epic saga. We also have to thank Ramanarayanan of Thenaandaal Films for having spent an astronomical sum to acquire the Tamil dubbing rights of this marvel of filmmaking.