'Azhagana Ratchashiyae' song set making in Mudhalvan - Ponniyin Selvan art director Thota Tharani explains in detail! WATCH VIDEO!

Award-winning art director Thota Tharani has spelled magic in several notable Tamil films over the years and his work has been garnering massive appreciation once again in Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan films. From the creation of a large canvas to bringing it to life in the form of larger than life sets, the Padma Shri awardee recently sat down with Galatta to talk about his work in the epic historical action adventure film, while also opening up on the set making of the 'Azhagana Ratchashiyae' song set making in director Shankar's 1999 blockbuster, Mudhalvan, starring 'Action King' Arjun and Manisha Koirala. 

Explaining the conception of the sets created for the 'Azhagana Ratchashiyae' song composed by Academy Award-winning composer A. R. Rahman in Mudhalvan, Thota Tharani said, "Shankar gave an idea. The Thanjavur dancing dolls and scarecrows. When it came to make costumes similar to those, I had read a book of my father's almost 50 years ago. In that book, there's an explanation for making costumes out of vegetables. That was for a theater palette. I recalled that and made the sunflower costume for this song. I had also introduced painting similar to Kalamkari on a large scale on the walls. You don't need luck, but good artistes will help you get the job done. I got good workers and the job got done well." 

Speaking about the pot costumes, Thota Tharani explained, "We made that in plaster of paris and created all the necessary fittings to fit the human body. So, we did three different sizes for the set up and made it on a big scale. Similarly, I gave a sketch for the camera to navigate in between all the pots and where you will see the whole place set up getting revealed. Approximately, 8,000 to 10,000 pots were needed. There were some people who said they will bring them, but they never arrived. In the end, only 100-200 pots arrived for the song's shooting. So, when it came to matching what we required for the shoot, I first told them to build the structure. Once the structure was done, we brought anywhere between 1,000 to 10,000 plastic balls that kids play with, tied them together with metal wires and painted over them. Otherwise, it would have not been possible since the shoot was right around the corner." He added, "I worked out the whole pot situation and did not tell anybody. Many people didn't know about this even after coming to the shooting. Nobody knows that after eight feet all the pots are actually plastic balls. In order to differentiate, I changed their sizes. And, my sets were the cheapest always. It was not expensive at all. It might appear to be grand, but never has it gone overboard." 

Watch Thota Tharani explain the 'Azhagana Ratchashiyae' song set making in Mudhalvan in the video below: