Nitish Roy
Art direction in film and television sets the tone for us as viewers to receive the story. On occasion the sets and props can even become uniquely significant for the narrative. A simple prop that is appropriately utilized, can quickly convey so much information about a character: an oft repeated example of this in American films is Luke Skywalker’s light sabre in Star Wars, drawing us immediately into a distant worlds/galaxies. Or Alfred Hitchcock’s film Rope, in which the titular rope is a metaphor for life and binds the films narrative tightly.
Nitish Roy speaking of his art direction in Indian films mentions the clock in the film Pukar (with Madhuri Dixit, Anil Kapoor and Namrata Shirodkar). Clocks have been used over and over in works of art, literature, and film. They, most often, symbolize time. In Pukaar he created a clock that is a crucial part of the story with Madhuri’s character hanging on the pendulum of his huge old beautiful clock in the climax, to literally stop time!
One would think that television, with its smaller screen real estate, would not give as much scope to an art director to showcase great talent. But in the course of his work in it, Nitish Roy has shown otherwise. In some of Indian televisions greatest works: Chanakya, Tamas, Bharat Ek Khoj, Mirza Ghalib -the screen was small, but Roy’s talent as large and as impressive as in the national award-winning big screen film work he did (Kharij, Mandi, Lekin, Ghayal etc.).
For the much-appreciated series Mirza Ghalib, the set was erected at Filmalaya in Mumbai. Roy says “Ghalib was very challenging. Films like Anarkali, Mughal e Azam had all shown opulence and grandeur. But a more realistic picture of Mughal times had never been attempted. Gulzar Saab, the director said, ‘Nitish, I want a Mughal period household of a very poor poet.’ I had to create a poverty-stricken neighbourhood, the lanes Ghalib walked on….”
What was being attempted was a realistic depiction of a legendary, timeless poet, struggling for the most part in his own time. It was a huge challenge but the accomplishment, as us audiences know was also huge.
Roy speaks articulately about an art director getting caught in a sense of personal style and the pitfalls that brings: “I never believed in anything called personal style … an artist should not allow oneself to be harnessed by some particular signature style. Every work of yours should be unique… when you are working on a particular historical period you should try to fall in love with it! Hold nothing back for the sake of your own style.” He uses a wonderful metaphor to explain this further: “You have to keep revolving that kaleidoscope tube in front of your eyes for the patterns to keep changing. You stop at the one you like, you lose the chance of coming up with a better one that you might like even more.”
For Govind Nihalani’s acclaimed television series Tamas, a huge set was put up. “We made a 1 km long set, with the whole thing outdoors in Bombay Film City. No one used to put outdoor sets like this, they used flats, but I used wood for the whole set and plywood planks (called falli). Now everyone is doing it. It is long lasting. Earlier people used cloth and paper to construct and the overnight dew would make it sag.”
Nihalani came before the shoot was to begin and went over the whole set in appreciative silence. Before leaving he said, “I want to do the filming with Om Puri and the boar tomorrow morning.” Viewers of the series know that this was one of the most important scenes in the story. Roy and his team raced to get everything ready. He remembers that he went and got 2 boars for this. This worked out well because for the whole afternoon one of them was sleeping. But fortunately, the other one was energetic and so could be included in the filming. A couple of days later the writer of Tamas, Bhisham Sahni, also came and saw the set. To Roy’s utmost delight he said ‘I had thought of it exactly like this.’ A sweet validation of the creativity and hard work that had gone into designing the set of this important and impactful series.
According to Roy, in thinking of art design for film as opposed to television, the key is understanding the specific needs of each medium while maintaining a strong design sensibility. Television content often fluctuates between tones more rapidly within the same series, and this requires the design to be flexible enough to support both dramatic and comedic moments. For example, a show might have lighter, comedic episodes in one season and heavier, more intense episodes in another. The design needs to adapt to these tone shifts while still feeling cohesive. In films on the other hand, the tone is generally more consistent, with the art direction often serving to support a singular, fixed mood or style throughout.
He goes onto speak about the seminal series on Indian television Bharat Ek Khoj. Directed by Shyam Benegal, this 1988 series was a rich exploration of India. An ambitious 53-episode TV series, it wasn’t just about painting a picture of India; it was about delving into the deeper meaning of its past, its struggles, its triumphs, and its ongoing journey towards defining itself. “To me Bharat Ek Khoj is perhaps the most adventurous work ever dared to be ventured in the history of Indian Television.”
“Obviously, I was unaware of the 6000 years stretch of history that we were supposed to work upon. It included the dynasties like Patakadal, Badami, Aihole, Chola, Pandya, Maurya, Gupta and even the Vedic era. Prior to that was the Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa periods. Then there was the Sultanate, the Mughal, the arrival of the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the British right down to contemporary times.”
What a daunting task it must have been. As a work of art direction, it required a meticulous eye for detail, because it was not just about recreating historical moments—it was about translating India’s diverse stories into visuals that conveyed its vastness, complexity, and timelessness. It required understanding the layers of India’s past, the intricacies of its architecture, the textures of its fabrics and the natural landscapes, how the people of those times lived, what kind of clothes and jewellery they wore, hair dos, their houses, what kind of utensils they used, what games they played and “a thousand other details that make a civilization,” exclaims Roy.
Clearly, a lot of research had to be undertaken to understand and recreate historical settings spanning thousands of years. This was around late1980s.There was no internet, no search engine to get information and help with the research. So, for more than a year Roy worked with the then Director M. C. Joshi of Archaeological Survey of India.
Shyam Babu had arranged a space for Roy at Filmalaya studios and it took him 6 months after the research was done to get everything ready for the shoot. “One of the biggest challenges was building realistic ancient cities on a limited budget. To achieve this, I used recycled materials. All the claddings were made in a modular way so that they could be interchanged fast. We painted 200 murals which could be used repeatedly, with some tweaks, for the different eras. We designed at least 500 pillars, cornices, textures, draperies, costumes…”
He narrates all this with the justifiable pride and happiness of being part of such vigorous creative work. Once, while shooting a Mauryan-era scene, Shyam Babu jokingly asked me, ‘Did you time travel? Because this looks exactly like it should.’ That was the best ever appreciation I got from the legend.”
As an art director, working in this realm required a deep sense of restraint, historical context, and authenticity. The aim was not just to tell a story, but to transport the audience into the world of the characters ensuring that every detail of the design, the sets, the props stay true to the era and social class depicted. He wraps up with a simple but profound description of what good art direction can achieve: “I can tell you, there are many things that the actors cannot express, the camera can’t capture, the sound can’t record, the light cannot illuminate, but only a good, well-designed set can manifest effortlessly in just a couple of frames. That’s where the real art in art direction lies.”
All of these television series that Roy worked in, educated generations about Indian history with depth and nuance. They made us look at our society with a critical yet empathetic lens and remain relevant even today, reminding us that television also has the power to reflect, challenge, and inspire.
This post was last modified on May 13, 2025 3:08 pm