JAY JOSHI
Leila, a series on Netflix is currently emerging as one of the most popular shows in the country. The show, set in a dystopian future, shows India being ruled by a totalitarian regime, where one woman sets out to find her daughter who has been taken from her. The show is currently the talk of the town across the country, and it holds a special significance for Goa in that two Goans were in charge of Leila’s production design.
Architects by qualification, Abhijit Gaonkar, and Sonam Singh, through their company Megamind Studios oversaw the production design of the series. Apart from Leila, the company has also worked on Amazon Prime series Mirzapur.
“Production designer, along with the director and cinematographer, is one of the three key creative heads that decide the visual aspect of the film,” explained Gaonkar while talking about the role of production designer in film making. “Concerned with areas such as colour palette, texture, etc, the job of a production designer is to enhance the visual appeal of the story before it is presented to the audience,”he stated.
Speaking about their experience of working with global brands such as Netflix and Amazon, the two Goan production designers stated that it was an enriching experience.
“Being global brands, both Amazon and Netflix have high production standards. The only difference I feel is that Netflix offers content that would appeal to audiences around the globe, whereas Amazon is more focused on the Indian domestic market,” said Abijit Gaonkar.
“I have been interested in theatre and film since childhood. Earlier, I was associated with the local theatre and used to lend a hand in set-design and other aspects of production. After graduation, I began exploring more of this film, and opportunities such as the Goan film Baga Beach came along,” Abhijit stated.
For Sonam SIngh too, production design was a childhood passion turned into opportunity. Though her family comes from Bihar, Singh is born and brought up in Goa.
“I have loved films ever since childhood, and was delighted to find something like production design which is sort of in line with what we studied in college,” informed Singh. “We founded Megamind Studios originally to take up architectural projects, but somehow were inclined towards film production design instead,” she adds.
The firm’s latest project, Leila is currently one of the top picks on Netflix. There have been allegations that the show is socially and politically biased, but the production designers aver that such is not the case.
“Leila is not against any party. It simply portrays a mindset that is present in our society -and that mindset needs to change,” says Gaonkar. “Secondly, as filmmakers, we like to explore themes that are untouched. Leila shows a dystopian future which kind of underlines where we end up if we do not change a certain type of mindset in the society,” he adds. “Every art form has the potential to initiate a thought-process.
Watching or not watching the film is the choice of the audience,” he says.
Further on, Sonam Singh underlines that the taste of the audience today is changing, and they are accepting diverse content. “Indian audience did have a bit of an inclination towards happy endings and happy stories in the past, but now, the taste of the audience is changing, and they are accepting good content, regardless of whether the ending is happy or sad.”
The production designers underlined that audience today are welcoming to quality content, and as a result, various new opportunities have opened up in filmmaking and entertainment.
