Early Years
My father Thota Venkateshwar Rao worked on stage, playing female roles. He learnt painting from Nandalal Bose and the Bengal School. My family was from Machilipatnam. At the age of five, I started drawing with a chalk piece and that was how it all began. I grew up in the world of films, as my father was also an art director.
At 12, they asked me to do a set for a Telugu film. After school, I joined art school and became an artist.
First Film
My first films were in Telugu — Nagamalli, Siri Siri Muva, and Shankrabharanam.
I got into this only because it gave me a platform to display my creativity. I worked with GV Subba Rao and Krishna Rao and began by painting on the sets.
Art and the man
While I was studying at art school, I had a show every year. I am not a Rembrandt or a Picasso, but I liked projecting my paintings well, and wanted them to catch everyone’s attention.
The Job
As an art director I bring to reality the director’s concept. The credit would come to me if the shot is beautiful. The stars of the film are the director, the music director, the art director and the cameraman. I like the field that I work in and it is my 43rd year now. Every film is the same, as you have to do your research for each. If you need to create a Kolkata set in a Telugu film, you study the structure by going to that place and getting the feel of it. I do a lot of detailing.
I like to use my own imagination to create.
I love suggestions, whether from a carpenter or a director. Earlier, there was a lot of respect shared between the art director and the cameraman. This is no longer the case. Today, they use computers to get 3D effects. I do my drawings in graph and give the ground plan and elevation.
The job of the art director is to convince the director to spend the money to get the effect that he wants. Every director wants a Rolls Royce but at the value of an Ambassador tyre!
Foreign Films
There is a vast difference between working in India and working with a foreign director. They have dates and schedules that are all locked. The concept is developed within the time frame. I have worked on three foreign films, Pondicherry Dernier Comptoir Des Indes (French), Hanuman (French) and Brachie (Italian).
Most exciting sets
The Meenakashi temple and the Dharavi slums that were recreated for Nayagan and of course the glamour of Shivaji are very memorable works of mine. But even the smallest set that I did for Sagar Sangamam, I feel, is a masterpiece. Raj Kapoor asked whether the bell that Kamal Haasan was dancing on was real or a set! I create an illusion, and an image using non-realistic material. Even the smallest set will have my soul in it.
Influences
My father, GV Subba Rao, Krishna Rao Gokhale, Sudhendu Roy, Shanta Ram, Bansi Chandra Gupta and Satyajit Ray, with whom we worked on a documentary about MS Subbalakshmi are some of my influences. I am fortunate to have met so many great people and being influenced by them. The experience of going to their film sets, keeping your feet there and walking and looking at so many people. These were all masters of their work.
Awards and Accolades
I do my job without any expectations.
Nor do I think of the publicity, fame or money it will bring. I work with sincerity and dedication. Awards give me recognition; I am the only art director in the country to get the Padmashri. I think of each of my work as a piece of art that I feel proud of. My set of the Madurai Meenakshi Temple brings tears to my eyes even today.