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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Now, he has designs on direction

— Photo: Special arrangement

Sidharth Chandrashekar

He has been exploring the creative space and using technological advancements to his best advantage for over a decade now. Among the leading designers in Kollywood today, Sidharth Chandrashekar has worked on the publicity material for nearly 70 films. Very soon, he will debut as director with ‘Bale Pandiya.’ Meera Srinivasan catches up with him…

A telling portrait of Bharathiyar by ace art director Thotta Tharani welcomes you into his work studio that is dominated by a beige-coloured theme. Having been part of most of the biggest projects in Tamil cinema in the last decade, he recalls his journey.

“That was the time when banners made of paintings were giving way to digital ones.”

After schooling, Mr. Chandrashekar left for the US to pursue graphic designing. Universities were impressed with his digital portfolio, as it was new and refreshing. “I was the only Indian student in the course.” However, he did not like it there and returned home in two months. With his creative persona putting constant pressure, he considered a few options before starting his own company, Mitrra Media.

“While there were people working on interesting promotional material, we were among the first to approach this aspect as a team, in a holistic way,” he says. Mr. Chandrashekar started looking at every film as a brand. A lot of thought went into seemingly small things such as the font to be used for a film’s title. “The promotional material, like posters and banners should match the spirit of the film.”

His team’s design for Rajinikant-starrer Sivaji title, particularly the font used for ‘The Boss’tagline, won significant notice and praise. It was replicated by many. He designed publicity material for several other big films, including Dasavatharam, Gajini, Anniyan, Chandramukhi, Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu, Dhaam Dhoom, Paruthi Veeran, and yet-to-be released Endhiran and Kandasamy.

The digital invitation he designed for the launch of Kandasamy took Kolloywood by great surprise. It was something that the industry had not seen or even conceived.

“During the launch of ‘Saawariya’ (Hindi film), we created the feel of the film at nearly 20 multiplexes in the North. That was a very interesting experience.”

New foray

So what prompted to take up direction? “Well, I tend to see things visually, as I have dyslexia. Direction, somehow, was the natural progression.”

Mr. Chandrashekar says director Susi Ganesan also played a role in this. “He said I should take up direction and put me on to producer Kalpathi S.Agoram of A.G.S Entertainment, who liked the script and instantly agreed.” With everything having fallen in place, the debutant director is all excited about beginning work in January. The script is an “action-packed comedy,” with actor Prasanna playing the lead.

“The company will certainly continue designing. I have a great team!” Interestingly, many of the designers in his company were once office boys. “Oh, they had the passion to learn and master the art. I’m really proud of them.”

Playing down his own achievement, Mr. Chandrashekar smiles and says: “I think I was at the right place, at the right time. That’s all.”

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