Architect Ashiesh Shah remembers how exacting Hrithik Roshan was about everything that went into his seaside Bandra home — from the perfect blue for his living room carpet (“not cerulean, not turquoise, something in between”) to nautical home accents. More recently, this attention to detail spilled into the shoot the actor did with Shah — for the first episode of the latter’s new show, Design HQ , on Fox Life.
“At one point, Hrithik actually became the director, suggesting camera angles and telling us where the best light was,” begins the interior designer, who believes the show is the closest we will get to the personal lives of celebrities. “Their homes are where they let their guards down. And when they let you in and play the host, the tonality is very different,” he insists.
- Hrithik Roshan: “Personalises spaces with moments of family and life — like a wall of photos that he updates whenever he travels with his sons.”
- Abu Sandeep: “The duo loves textures and layering — like using gold, even going overboard with it repeatedly, so that it becomes a strong focal point.”
- Aditya Roy Kapoor: “He prioritises his passion — he’s living bachelor life to the fullest with a bright blue pool table in the middle of his living room and a bright red couch.”
- Suzanne Khan: “Liberally uses art — she literally lives among artefacts she’s brought back from her travels. The most recent addition: a vintage still life bought at a Paris flea market.”
Drawing room edit
While there are several design shows on TV, Shah feels anchor-driven ones only highlight the glamour of a star’s home, without touching upon its architectural nuances. As an interior designer, he will, instead, explore how an empty shell becomes a “livable, functional, star-defining space”. “I wanted to show a side of India that equals to luxury in a very sensible, sensitive way,” says the 38-year-old, who visited the homes of some of India’s top creative talents, like Masaba Gupta, Pernia Qureshi and Sussanne Khan, for the eight episodes. “While I’ve designed three of the homes, the other five are done up by the individuals themselves,” he says, adding that he has broken each episode down to a particular style — like minimalism, monochrome or urban luxury.
“Through this journey, you will see how it is important to have a personality and not a label. Your home is not about the money you spend; it is about your aesthetic. We will be giving away inside secrets, and why not — no one needs to live badly just because they don’t have access to a designer,” says Shah, admitting the show is also a personal quest to overcome his stage fright.
Behind closed doors
Humour underlines much of Design HQ . In the second episode, with Aditya Roy Kapoor, Shah tries out the young actor’s pool table and gets him to open up about the weirdest things he owns (like a skirt he wore to last year’s Burning Man festival). There are also a few discoveries — “did you know a common thread in many Bollywood homes is a piano and a telescope?” — surprises and learnings. “Masaba shocked us. When you think of her, you think crazy, quirky, pop. But she actually endorses minimalism. And in Abu Sandeep’s new house, I took away a lot on the placement and lighting of antiques, and about layering and texturing,” he adds.
A serious collector of art — Shah picked up his first Raza while in college, and recently acquired two bronzes by Meera Mukherjee and Mrinalini Mukherjee — he will also break down the various styles through a DIY section. “Trends are constantly changing: grey is the new beige and patterned floorings are back. I will give tips and hacks, and you’ll find out why I am doing the show and not a TV anchor.”
Design HQ airs on Fox Life every Thursday, at 10 pm.
