We know Manisha A Dutt, as an architect and a budding production designer who worked for some time on Mahanati. She has been in the industry for the past two years and is yet to leave a visual imprint in Telugu cinema. As a student she was excited by the parallels between cinema and architecture, both mediums dealing with space, time and movement and took up production design in cinema as a full time career. Right now she is working on OTT platforms and feature films too, trying to carve a niche for herself at the intersection of these two disciplines. Manisha has a strong will, observant, resourceful and passionate about her craft and also an amiable person to work with. In a conversation with Klapboardpost.com, she reveals that she is a fan of Thota Tharani and also the backstory of having worked her way up to the male dominated bastion; she is also, now an independent production designer. Manisha’s current project is Chaavu Kaburu Challaga starring Karthikeya produced by Geeta Arts. There is no stopping this young lady anymore.
Y.Sunita Chowdhary
Multi-tasking: When I was studying architecture, my father insisted on me doing a part time job, he wanted me to be an apprentice and earn my pocket money. None of the architecture firms would open post four in the evening. So, from 10 AM to 2 PM I would be at college and rush to the music college at 2.30 PM and that would end by 4.30. From 5 PM onwards to 8 or sometimes 10 or 11, I would be on the film set. Some days I would be sleeping on the film set and would go to college after that. I was studying and working and the timings were crazy. Initially I was looking for an interesting job and in the first year of college I saw scope in theatre. I knew about art direction eventually but when I learnt there were jobs in theatre, I thought I should be trying there. I remember going to a 4D theatre at Shilpakala Vedika, we managed to put drizzle in the hall, vibrator to create thunder and we did crazy stuff as we were inclined to storytelling. Getting to design someone else’s story is like a big cherry I liked. Then I got an advertisement because I was involved with theatre. By the time I was in third year, I started working on Race Gurram, Jaguar. I would observe a great deal.
Meeting the idol: In course of time, I also finished three web series and twenty ad films and I thought it was high time I do art direction on my own, I did small budget films and learnt to hold a team on my own. I just got out of architecture and I began bothering Thota Tharani. It was two years since I began hunting for his number. One day my brother Hussian Shah Kiran who worked in Nanaku Prematho informed me that Tharani was at Nanakramguda. I rushed and wanted to see him once. I wanted to see how he works, it was just a conversation I wanted. The people there said he left. Just when I thought my luck deserted me, he returned and started sketching. I introduced myself and he listened patiently and said he has only five minutes…and he will come back to me the next day. I didn’t want to meet him for a job, I was more like a fan. The next day I went with my sketch book, I showed him my work and he saw all this. I was doing interior designing at that time and we got chatty. What was supposed to be a five minute talk turned out to be a full blown three hour discussion.
An advice for life: He told me not to imitate his work and whenever I was free I would go and see his work and there were no boundaries. We finally cracked one design after working for long hours. He said I was already creative and he wanted to tell me about survival i.e when to say yes and when to say no at work. He said, “You are one of the few girls who are into production designs, you might have these issues. You will be under stress but give your best. You can’t go back once you have taken up the work.” I have done about 20 odd ad films, 6 web series. My recent one was Loser. I also worked on a couple of films, Mental Madhilo, Neeku Nuvve Naaku Nene. I was also offered World Famous Lover and Lakshmi’s NTR but I was not able to take those up.
Telugu cinema
The OTT & Film: We put in a lot of effort on OTT. You have to keep the audience’s attention for a long time so detailing should be meticulous. We all watch web series because of the story, how much we are hooked to the emotion behind the story. There is a lot of gratitude from my side to people who let me stay on the set during the initial days of my work. Production designers are the architects of films. You’ll have to keep in consideration, the costumes, styling, colours of the art department, how a set is being designed, cinematography etc. We bring it all together and work with each team separately. My stint in advertising helped me. Even if it is a small project I would put in a lot of detailing. When I was designing colour pallets for Mahanati, the knowledge came in use. We were part of the production design team for that film. The frame is important to the production designer as much as it is important to the cinematographer and director.
The challenges: I was working on a project, I hired assistants and hiring them means we have to trust their taste, skill and work ethic. Also you will have to believe you are the set boy also and life becomes easy. You need to know how to handle any team. What to procure from where, how quick you are with design, thinking in five minutes to come up with a colour palette as a design solution is not easy. Sometimes, some problem or the other will come up. A really good director will give you freedom to explore design. There will be challenges with budget and also time. If timings are not followed, blame game happens which is why we always ask for sticking to schedules, giving budgets on time and buffer as that helps you execute projects better. I worked 18 hours a day for some projects and lost half my sanity. The biggest trait you cultivate while working in a film is that you know how to do your last minute stuff.
