Where Art thou'? 
By IndiaFM News Bureau, August 11, 2005 - 05:52 IST
Peek into Mangal Pandey's art d?r
“I still remember the day when Ketan narrated “The Rising” script to me eight years ago. As the narration went on, all the visuals started forming before my eyes…” - Himman Dhamija
Barrackpore beckoning…
Our first task was to find a perfect location where we could build our own Barrackpore and Calcutta. Ketan and I started our research with Calcutta. We visited the actual Barrackpore cantonment and saw the actual banyan tree where Mangal Pandey was hanged. We toyed with the idea of shooting there itself but a lot of modern structures had come op and so it just fell out of our period.
We then scouted Behrampore, Calcutta Fort William, Meerut, Delhi and Pataudi with Bobby Bedi and Aamir. Here I was able to observe closely the layouts of cantonments, the British officer's interiors and the discipline and lifestyle of the army officers. We then started scouting Maharashtra in search of our dream Barrackpore. We finally found a lot of interesting locations in Puna cantonment and Satara.
The Bengali flavor
Simultaneously I was doing in-depth research on the period, Bengali culture, lifestyles of people, food, colors and building materials. My research had to be perfect and authentic right from the building structures to props to drapes to even the matchbox, which Mangal uses. On entering the set, one got the feeling of being transported to the 1850 Calcutta with the mithai shops serving garam garam roshgullas, men smoking hookahs and gossiping at the market square and buggies, victories and hand rickshaws strolling by.
Pretty as a painting!
During my research, I came across old paintings of the Daniels done during the 1800s. What I have tried to do is to create every frame of the sets as these old master paintings. I have developed the color tones, the proportions and the textures and frames using these authentic references. While watching the movie, the frame looks like an old master oil painting, which suddenly comes alive with characters and props and sounds. The effect is really very good and you are re-winded back to that era at that time on that street.
What I loved doing best…
I have tried to bring out Mangal Pandey's turmoil and rebellion through the production design. I have tried to show the contrast that existed between the lifestyles of the British and the Indian people. Ketan has marvelously portrayed and visualized the rebellion where the concept of one nation and united INDIA emerged for the first time in history.
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