Production design is an incredibly creative job, it entails recreating real spaces and also deals with organization, management and problem-solving. Doing all this is a pretty and immensely talented Pravalya who is in her early twenties. Pravalya is a Vizag girl staying in Hyderabad for the last seven years; she had done graduation in product design from NIFT which is a four year course after which she started working in Inhabit, a premium home decor studio. In a chat with Y.Sunita Chowdhary of Klapboardpost.com, Pravalya talks about her career, her approach and she comes across as a very confident woman who knows what she wants and how to go about it. “I did interior and furniture design in Inhabit and then shifted to Livspace. Later I moved to a feature film titled Gami starring Vishwak Sen. It is a crowd funded film and now UV Creations is doing the post productions and promotions,” she says. Isn’t having a woman on the sets doing production design a rarity in Telugu films, though we have heard of few names recently associated with big banners? Considering the present era, females doing everything possible, we see a lot of them, the designers and directors. Pravalya says in the industry the ratio is less though and feels proud to be amongst so many men. She adds, “I do so many things that they can’t do. There are pros and cons too, they have questions like..who is she in our field, what is she doing, why should we listen to her etc. In terms of craft, they respect me and that’s enough. Ethics and effort is not cake walk ..but I do tell my team to follow my instructions. I have done two films and I am working on the third. Every production house is different, every producer is different, the direction team luckily is in sync with me and they understand my design and I try to cater to what they want. Creative freedom, synch and balance is there but production wise I am trying to adapt to the culture. Sometimes I rebel and they don’t like it. They say I am young and I am not listening to them… but I have my principles and ethics but otherwise I am enjoying the ride, the execution and the design part. It is amazing.”
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She continues, “I didn’t work as an apprentice in a film set after moving from Inhabit. When i was working in Inhabit, I bumped into a friend who was into films and her director wanted a set as they were looking for somebody to do a song. During a conversation with me, he said he was trying to fit something into the budget. I said it is possible and was wondering how one can’t find people to do it. Eventually he offered the song, I did it for free, and wanted to help them. There I met the filmmaker of Gami. He is Karthik Sabarish and he visited the studio. I also met director Vidyadhar Kagita and subsequently I made some special props and he was quite interested and they wanted me to be involved in the sets.” Pravalya didn’t give up her job, she continued her desk work from 9 am to 5 pm at Livspace and from evening 6 onwards till midnight she worked for the film. She had no team as such and also there were no resources. Gami was a crowd funded film, the core crew was helpful and they gave her time to figure out the team. She looked out for local people and for the artistry part, she got sculptors and painters who helped her with major sets. Luckily there was no condition of employing union people. However, the next film was union based. Yes, she did face her share of troubles from the male chauvinists but she fought for what she wanted and made sure she got the output irrespective of the ego clashes. Also, luckily she had major support in Gami in the form of the director and producer. Certain individuals had to listen to an extent and rest she had to manage. Finally, they were all over supportive. Pravalya also had a few people whom she could trust, it was a mix and match. She quips, “Two films have to be released and people don’t know me yet but my USP is I can pull off brilliant stuff in less budget and whoever approaches me knows it. This is an industry where there are numbers issues and leakages, my motto is to give the best within the least. I aim for quality and I have satisfied everyone with the execution.”
Art directors and production designers work on multiple projects, so does Pravalya work on one film at a time or many? “I don’t aim to do more films in less time. I am being picky and looking at doing things that are creatively satisfying. Films are not the only things I am working on, I do space designing, interior projects and right now I am busy with a studio in Vijayawada which is being launched in August. I was not planning to do this, it went with the flow. I have been an artistic person since childhood. Since the first grade, I have painted and sketched. I was a Bipc student and was preparing for the EAMCET but ended up getting an admission in NIFT. I basically wanted to explore the creative part of the brain and I am glad I didn’t do fashion design. The practical knowledge of product design is what I learnt in the process. I passed out in 2018 and have been freelancing in college and did internships. After college, I took up projects and it worked out for me and the zeal to do something got me here.”
Ashokavanamlo Arjuna Kalyanam is obviously a bigger film than Gami, was there less stress while it got upgraded? “In the second film, there was a little more stress in terms of handling people and it had more deadlines and less time for execution. In a crowdfunded film, I had a window space.” Do we have a mixture of workmen from the North? “Yes, there is a mixture. …sensibilities, workmanship, attitude and pricing all varies..there is difference between regular craftsman and filmi craftsman. We have to be careful on how much we have to pay; also there are budget constraints and also manpower. We need to draw perfect balance,” she shares.” Pravalys signs off saying that seeing the satisfaction on the faces of the DoP or director gives her a high. Especially when they say her work is amazing, all her hardship is forgotten. As a technician, she is constantly looking at the monitor to see if she can fix something that is wrong then and there itself. She cannot be present on the sets for all the films and all the times but whenever she is there, she gives her 100 percent. Hardworking, attentive, versatile and extremely professional, what more can any director ask from this production designer?
