Production designer Aparna Sud on ‘Jubilee’: I watched films by Guru Dutt and Satyajit Ray for inspiration and art – Exclusive – Times of India

Vikramaditya Motwane’s ‘Jubilee’ has been making all the right noises ever since its release. Apart from the brilliant performances by the actors, it is the production design that has garnered all the attention. ETimes got in touch with Aparna Sud, one of the production designers of the show, for an exclusive chat where she opened up about associating with the show, the most challenging part of creating such a set, her thoughts behind creating a visual design, and more. Excerpts…
What kind of reactions have you been getting for your work in ‘Jubilee’?

Very rarely, the production design of films and shows gets appreciated and noticed. I have been getting a lot of positive reactions from all across the globe. People are loving the world we created. It has a feel, a sense of nostalgia.

What was your first thought when you came on board for the project? What were your reference points for the project?
It was a mammoth project to execute, but I was so lucky to have bagged Jubilee. As far as referencing is concerned, it started with books and old film archives on filmmaking. I watched films by the legendary Guru Dutt and Satyajit Ray for inspiration and art.

How difficult was it to conceptualise and build most of the set from scratch?

I would not call it difficult. But it was definitely challenging. However, I feel that is what brings out the good work. It took us months to design the sets on paper after the research. Every day, we would add and remove elements and work on the design. After all that, we built cardboard miniatures of the three main, big exterior sets, and we did three renders for all the small ones. This helped us with the execution.

Scenes of the cinema halls have been shot in four real single-screen theatres. What was the reason behind that?

Yes, that is correct. We could not have managed to build the cinema halls. We had to adhere to the budgets and spend money in the right places. They were also all period specific and available for us to shoot.

What was the most challenging part of it all?

Prepping for all the equipment needed to make the sets from that era and fighting the COVID restrictions at the same time were the biggest challenges we faced during the making of ‘Jubilee’.

After we finished making the exteriors of the Roy Talkies, the shoot got cancelled owing to the pandemic. We had to dismantle the entire set. All the materials and the equipment were stored at some place. Later, we rebuilt the set when we resumed shooting.

How was it working with Vikramaditya Motwane?

It was an amazing learning experience working with Vikramaditya Motwane. He gave us a lot of freedom to work. He is also someone who always welcomes suggestions. He is brilliant, both as a person and as a director.

Is there any fun or interesting anecdote that you would like to share with us from the making of Jubilee?

I feel like it was all fun and well-deserved now. I don’t recall anything specific from the shooting days. However, there is one interesting anecdote that I would like to mention. The Mujra song of Niloufer and the bar song ‘Babuji’ were shot on the same set. We just made little changes here and there, but when you watch the show, you can hardly point them out!

What is your basic thought process when you create a visual design?

The first and most important thing is the script. Whatever I design, it has to justify the script because, by the end of it, the storytelling is more important than the design alone. Then there are other intricacies like the palette, the era in which the story is set, the textures, the looks, etc.

In one of your earlier interviews, you called ‘Neerja’ your ‘biggest and most interesting’ project. Where and how much would you rate ‘Jubilee’ now?

As of today, my biggest and most interesting one is ‘Jubilee’ because it is very fresh and the appreciation that I am getting is great.

You have done a major chunk of your work with Ram Gopal Varma. How is he as a filmmaker and as a person?

In a recent interview after winning the Oscar, MM Keeravani said that half the industry owes their careers to Ram Gopal Varma. I owe my career to him as well. He knows his craft very well, and I have great respect for him as a human being.

Tell us something about your initial days in the industry.

I came from Shimla in 2002. The day after I arrived, I went to assist Vinod Guruji on a film set. It was a set with clouds and a background painted sunset. It was mesmerising. Since that day I have loved to create and design sets according to the situations. I am grateful to have a job I love.