'Mr. & Mrs. Mahi', Production Designer, Sharanya Menon

0:00Sharanya MenonW… what we really struggled with was finding the right house. We had looked at almost 150 houses just for the exterior alone, not for the interior at all. The emotions and the life of your normal, average family, that's exactly what this film is all about. And cricket being the kind of sport it is in India, everyone watches it.

0:18Jawad MirWas the catalyst that made you who you are today?

0:22Sharanya MenonIt's Sound of Music and King and I. I'm a big fan of musicals.

0:26Jawad MirLife is about rejection, especially in our industry. Do you remember where you were completely down and out?

0:32Sharanya MenonYou know, funny enough, this moment I had after the screening of this film, I had to take a moment to st… and step back and say, "Have I actually done this?"

0:49Jawad MirIn just context of this film particularly, how did you get on board? And at the same time, are you a cricket fan by any means?

1:00Sharanya MenonOkay. So I actually was not supposed to be doing this film. I was, called on board to replace another production designer.

1:12Jawad MirOkay.

1:12Sharanya MenonBecause at that time, COVID... When the film first started, COVID had just hit.

1:16Jawad MirRight.

1:17Sharanya MenonAnd, it had actually been pushed. The start of the shoot had been pushed by a couple of months. So the production designer at that time was not available because she had some other commitments, and that's how I got on board. I'm ac… actually very happy that happened because the entire process of this has been great. I loved it. I used to love cricket at one point, but I think once the, T20 matches and all that started, I kind of lost the interest. The charm of it went for me.

1:53Sharanya MenonBut this rekindled my, love for cricket and my actual interest in it, to the very extent that I actually watch cricket now. I'm interested in it again, so it's…

2:05Jawad MirThat's good

2:06Sharanya Menon... Funny how that worked. Yeah.

2:09Jawad MirYeah. No, that's awesome. Well, you know, one of the things that probably must have really hit you hard among, a… along with a lot of other people in India, when the final happened, right, against Australia, I mean, that was, that w… that must've been really painful to sort of take it in. Because it was a great game, but at the end of the day, you know, somebody has to win and somebody has to lose.

2:31Sharanya MenonYeah, I mean, we really were expecting to win, because the team had been performing really well all throughout.

2:38Jawad MirYeah.

2:38Sharanya MenonAnd, in fact, a lot, a bunch of us actually gathered, at a bar somewhere and had a great time and watched the entire match 'til the very point that we realized that, you know…

2:49Jawad MirIt's over

2:50Sharanya Menon... It was not going our way. And then a couple of my friends actually walked out because they didn't want to sit and watch the end of it. But, so yeah.

2:56Jawad MirYeah, it's pain… it's painful. It's painful, right?

2:58Sharanya MenonIt's very painful, yeah.

3:00Jawad MirAnd I mean, Team India did perform really remarkably well. I mean, I think, they kind of mimicked what Australia had been doing in the early 2000s, like in terms of being undefeatable…

3:12Sharanya MenonThat's true

3:12Jawad Mir... And very aggressive.

3:14Sharanya MenonYeah.

3:14Jawad MirBut yeah, no, they, there's always next time, right? There's always, there's a T20 World Cup…

3:20Sharanya MenonYeah

3:20Jawad Mir... Coming now here in North America and Caribbean, so.

3:23Sharanya MenonYeah. We're looking forward to it. It's starting in June, so we're…

3:27Jawad MirYeah, the next couple of ga… couple of, I think…

3:30Sharanya MenonYeah

3:30Jawad Mir... The big game is on June 9th in New York between India…

3:32Sharanya MenonYeah

3:33Jawad Mir... And Pakistan, so that would be exciting to watch.

3:35Sharanya MenonOf course, India-Pakistan is always a big event.

3:39Jawad MirYeah. You know, one of the names that really sort of introduced me into the world of art department and production design,.. Two names, actually. One is Rick Carter, who's worked a lot with Steven Spielberg, but there's one from India.

4:01Sharanya MenonOkay.

4:02Jawad MirNi… late Nitin Desai.

4:04Sharanya MenonYeah.

4:04Jawad MirYou know, I think his work, especially on the films, I think he worked with Devdas and bunch of other films.

4:11Sharanya MenonYeah.

4:11Jawad MirBut I think I became aware of his work mainly through Parinda and 1942: A Love Story…

4:16Sharanya MenonOkay

4:16Jawad Mir... Which were the movie I directed.

4:18Sharanya MenonYeah.

4:19Jawad MirDid you grow up with anybody in particular in terms of production design? Because up until the '90s, early '90s, mid '90s, I don't think there was that concept in the Indian cinema in terms of production designer and art cinema. Correct me if I'm wrong, at least from what I understood.

4:35Sharanya MenonYeah, you're absolutely right. I mean, I think we, my contemporaries and I, we didn't really know the concept of production design or art direction as such. When you went to watch movies, you were always really focused on the actors, on the director, on maybe the cinematographer at that time, and the music. That's what took over most often than not. Production design or art direction really was just in the background. I mean, that's what it was. It was in the background. So when I came into this industry, it was actually kind of a revelation to me. It's not... And I never really grew up with these kind of inspirations. The only thing that I really did appreciate and I really did like watching out for were, you know, there used to be these VHS tapes of musicals and those kind of things…

5:29Sharanya Menon... That we used to grow up watching, and I always used to get fascinated by looking at the backgrounds and the sets and wondering how they ever did it and ever created those things. And I always thought, "You know, that must be a real location. I want to go there someday." That was how we grew up.

5:44Jawad MirRight

5:44Sharanya Menon... So that concept of production design actually only really started, especially in India, the interest in it only really started maybe 10 years ago, or less than that, actually. I mean, I remember even during, like my, during my career, art direction is what it was called. It was never called production design. The term production design as a whole was a very rare thing to hear between departments. You know? So that concept was, is really, I think it's, only come in really, late into this industry.

6:24Jawad MirYou're, you're absolutely right because I have seen, the movie 1942: A Love Story I don't even know how many times. Like, I am…

6:32Sharanya MenonYeah.

6:32Jawad Mir... A huge fan of Vidhu Vinod. Vidhu Vinod Chopra is like, you know, up there for me…

6:37Sharanya MenonYeah

6:37Jawad Mir... As my, as... Along with Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese. And I remember in the opening credits it said Art Director Nitin Desai.

6:46Sharanya MenonYeah.

6:46Jawad MirBecause I had seen that opening credit so many times, and yeah, production designer probably, yeah, you're right, the actual word in India came just recently, 10 years ago.

6:56Sharanya MenonYeah. So, I mean…

6:57Jawad MirGo on

6:58Sharanya Menon... Yeah, for the layman, for the layman, actually production design is also very new. Art director is something that they would have heard of more, a lot more.

7:07Jawad MirIs there any difference, for people who are listening and watching? Like, if there is, what is the difference?

7:13Sharanya MenonWell, now it has become a little more classified in some way. So, a production designer would be a person who would take care of the overall aspect of things and get involved in color palettes, costumes, everything on that scale. But an art director nowadays is usually a person who takes care of just construction, whereas a production designer will then get into doing props and fabrics and everything else along with construction. So it's like kind of being the head, and then you have your art director and set decorator and all of that.

7:51Jawad MirSo your role on Mr. & Mrs. Mahi as production designer, what were, what were your conversations with the director, and the, you know, the team, basically, the vision that was suppo… was brought into the film in the early stages of production, in pre-production stages at least?

8:11Sharanya MenonIt was... So script level, it's a very beautiful, simple film. But what, when we started reading the script at that time, there were a lot of cricket-based films that were being made in India. So our vision and our goal at that point was to set it apart from whatever else was coming our way. Because it's set in a, it... I mean, it, when people do see it's set in Jaipur. Middle class family, Jaipur, so very normal, run-of-the-mill story. The only way we could really create a world of our own and make it stand out in some ways was to then go into details of, okay, even if it's in Rajasthan, how do we make it look different? Because you go to Rajasthan, you have the same locations again and again and again.

9:01Jawad MirYeah.

9:01Sharanya MenonRight? How do we make it look different? Okay, does that involve then getting into using an exterior of the, over there, building an interior in Bombay? Does it involve traveling to other cities, looking at cricket stadiums over there? Even if there are cricket stadiums there, how do we make it different? So our goal was to make a world which was different but still real, and that was a really tricky, zone to be in because it's, because people know Rajasthan, so you can't really fib and make it look bad. It has to look good at the end of the day. It has to look authentic.

9:45Sharanya MenonAnd, I think we did achieve it. We did pull it off. Well, let's see. I mean, it's up to everyone else also.

9:54Jawad MirBut it, you said that, without talking too much about the film, like, you know, it was a challenge of course to make sure that Rajasthan doesn't look like your typical Rajasthan, but also you don't want to take that away, right?

10:07Sharanya MenonYeah.

10:07Jawad MirAnd then the stadium, would there be a specific exam… a story that you can tell us, without talking about the film, but just more so on the behind the scene element, is where that kind of, what's the word I'm looking at, like fiction came about, like how do we... Like, just an interaction with the team, your team or with the director, and how you overcame it. Any example during the entire production of the film.

10:34Sharanya MenonI mean, so what really, what we really struggled with was finding the right house, and as simple as… ... The actor's house. We had almost lo… we had looked at almost 150 houses, just for the exterior alone, not for the interior at all. Out of those 150 houses, we had shortlisted one, and that was our top pick. But the problem was that we were not happy with that. We still thought there could be something more in Jaipur. I mean, we weren't ready to accept the fact that, you know, this is it and you can't do that. So we went to other cities. We thought, okay, maybe we'll find something which could be placed... It's a generic house. It could be placed anywhere.

11:25Sharanya MenonBut it didn't, and so we struggled. We, almost for two months, that was just the process of finding the right house, the exterior of the house, just so that we could build the interior, and that's what we were starting with, on our schedule, building the interior of the house. So it was quite a challenge to actually get into that and do it and finalize on the place. We took it for granted because we always think that things are available and, you know, these houses are regular. You'll find them, but it was, it was quite a challenge. So the director, DOP, and I, we were, we were at loggerheads a lot during this process, but yeah, eventually it did work out.

12:08Jawad MirI'm actually speaking to the DOP. What's his name?

12:12Sharanya MenonAnay Goswam?

12:12Jawad MirYeah, Anay Goswam, yeah.

12:14Sharanya MenonOh, nice.

12:14Jawad MirI think on Tue… Tuesday or something.

12:16Sharanya MenonYeah.

12:16Jawad MirBut you said… You guys picked 150 homes. Out of that, you shortlisted one, and then even that wasn't good enough, unless... What was the reason that one house was picked, and what was the reason that one house wasn't perfect enough? What was missing from it?

12:36Sharanya MenonWell, so the reason we picked that house in the beginning was the design style of the house. We loved it.

12:43Jawad MirOkay.

12:44Sharanya MenonAnd that's what we were aiming at and going with initially. Now, logistical issues, you wanna go to Jaipur, finish off the interior and exterior, and come back. But when we went and recce the house, the interior was too small for us to even fit two people along with the camera.

13:01Sharanya MenonSo that's where we decided to then look again, search for more places, try and figure if there was something else that could possibly look like this but give us space inside, and that permit… permutation, combination, all of that, nothing worked out, so that's how it happened, actually. Eventually, we, I mean, we started the film not really thinking we'd make sets, but we eventually did.

13:28Jawad MirRight. And something that I've seen that now, I used to watch a lot of films, you know, I grew up watching… ... Hollywood and I like to call it Indian cinema, but we can call it Bollywood.

13:40Sharanya MenonYeah

13:41Jawad Mir... But then, you know, after 2006, 2007, I kind of just, kind of like you stopped watching cricket… ... I kind of stopped watching, because I just found that it was just the same, you know…

13:52Sharanya MenonYeah

13:52Jawad Mir... The mainstream, very over-the-top, made for the masses, right? That's the right word.

13:57Sharanya MenonRight. Yeah.

13:58Jawad MirBut having said that, I think in the last 10 years, especially with the introduction of Amazon and Netflix, there's a lot of, like, independent stuff coming out that mainstream maybe the masses will not be, won't be appealed to.

14:12Sharanya MenonYeah.

14:12Jawad MirAnd it's really good to see now. There, you know, I, slowly, I'm not watching a lot, but I do... I mean, I saw this Hiramanthi series… ... That, which was fabulous.

14:22Sharanya MenonYeah.

14:22Jawad MirAnd the, what attracted me to Mr. And Mrs. Mahi, so I was, I don't even know about this film that was coming out. I don't really follow Indian film cinema…

14:30Sharanya MenonOkay

14:30Jawad Mir... Very avidly, but I was on YouTube, and I saw the thumbnail Mr. And Mrs. Mahi.

14:35Sharanya MenonYeah.

14:35Jawad MirI'm like, "They're making another movie on MS Dhoni and his wife?" Like, that's, that was my first reaction, right? And I'm, "What?" And then you guys even show the snippet of the photo in the trailer of

14:44Sharanya MenonYeah

14:45Jawad Mir... Mahesh and

14:45Sharanya MenonYeah

14:45Jawad Mir... Smitha. And, but it just looked... Rajkummar Rao, he's such an amazing actor. I think he's probably one of the finest actors in India right now.

14:54Sharanya MenonYeah.

14:55Jawad MirAnd I was really surprised by, I always forget the name of Sridevi's daughter

15:01Sharanya MenonJanhvi.

15:03Jawad MirJanhvi.

15:03Sharanya MenonYeah.

15:03Jawad MirShe literally looked, like, identical to Sridevi from the '80s.

15:08Sharanya MenonYeah.

15:08Jawad MirRight?

15:09Sharanya MenonYeah.

15:09Jawad MirEven her performance. And it look, it looks like a fabulous film. I'm just kind of telling you, and I'm gonna, I'm gonna watch it next week, but it looks like a fantastic film. I'm a big cricket fan, and Rajkummar Rao in it just looks so authentic, and that's what makes it inter… I'm so glad that now the average people's stories are being told…

15:27Sharanya MenonYeah

15:27Jawad Mir... As opposed to, you know, people who are filthy rich or, you know, doing…

15:31Sharanya MenonYeah

15:31Jawad Mir... Really well in life. It's so amazing to see that because that's what, who all of us are. Like, we're just…

15:35Sharanya MenonExactly

15:35Jawad Mir... Ordinary people.

15:36Sharanya MenonYeah. And cricket being the kind of sport it is in India, everyone watches it. I mean, everyone's glued to their TV sets the moment they start a match, a series, like, people are just talking about it all the time. That kind of thing, along with, you know, the emotions and the life of your normal, average family. That's exactly what this film is all about. I mean, yeah, it just, it's, it's lovely to see how it's turned out.

16:09Jawad MirAre you happy? Have you seen the final film?

16:11Sharanya MenonYes, we did have, a screening a couple of days ago. And I am very happy.

16:17Jawad MirYeah.

16:17Sharanya MenonVery proud of the film that we made.

16:20Jawad MirThat's good. I mean, speaking of ticket, cricket, sorry, I'm saying ticket.

16:24Sharanya MenonYeah

16:24Jawad Mir... There is a C… I don't know if it's available in India. I was just talking to the directors of that yesterday. It's called The Test. It's on Amazon Prime. It's basically…

16:34Sharanya MenonOkay

16:34Jawad Mir... It's, it's 12 episodes with three seasons in total, 12 episodes.

16:39Sharanya MenonOkay.

16:39Jawad MirAnd it follows the Australian cricket team and all the controversy. It's really, it's interesting, and just like I'm talking about, like, you know, the story of ordinary people. When you, if you're into cricket, if you even watch the first five minutes of this series, I was watching it with my wife yesterday, and she doesn't even know anything about cricket, right?

16:57Sharanya MenonOkay.

16:58Jawad MirAnd she wa… she was hooked. But it just humanizes these people…

17:02Sharanya MenonYeah

17:02Jawad Mir... And it p… puts a completely different perspective. So I highly recommend that you watch, if you have time, and if you're into cricket, it's a really great series.

17:09Sharanya MenonDefinitely. I'll definitely do that. Anything related to cricket now, I'm actually interested in watching, so.

17:15Jawad MirGood. What was the catalyst, you kind of touched upon it, but like, if you can go a little bit deeper, that made you who you are today. Like, what was that one moment, if you can remember that, you know, I wanna do films and I wanna be an art director or production designer?

17:38Sharanya MenonLike, I mean, like I said, it was, watching films and, really wondering how that was even possible to make a set. H… and, you know, and me also…

17:52Jawad MirBut was it a particular, sorry, was it a particular film that you can recall, a moment?

17:57Sharanya MenonOne, actually two that I really recall are, I mean, they're, they're also Hollywood films, but it's Sound of Music and King and I. And I'm a big fan of musicals. So… ... When I saw those, that something s… I mean, it struck a chord. It's just something that remained with me, till I actually did get into the industry. Funny enough, it's not something that I pursued as a course, as a degree. It's only when I Came to Bombay, because of another job is when, and then realized that I had to do something else is when I actually got into u… production design. So it was just something that had struck a chord with me really early on and then, you know, it happened.

18:47Jawad MirThose are great films, and if you're into musicals, there was a film that came out in the '90s which I didn't like at the time, but I probably need to revisit it. It starred Madonna, Evita.

18:58Sharanya MenonYeah.

18:59Jawad MirI mean, it had, probably had amazing production design too, because it was a period piece.

19:03Sharanya MenonI think, yeah.

19:03Jawad MirRight? So. But you know, looking, sometimes we always, sometimes are, we're always in a rush and go, right? All the time. Like, you know, and sometimes be, and we are thinking like, "Why didn't we get this thing?" Or, "Why didn't we get that job?" You know, just like gigs…

19:20Sharanya MenonYeah

19:20Jawad Mir... And projects.

19:21Sharanya MenonYeah.

19:21Jawad MirYou know, being in the industry myself, it's something that we all, I think, feel, but sometimes we fail to realize or we forget to realize, if we look back five years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years to where we were to, as…

19:37Jawad Mir... Opposed to where we have come to.

19:39Sharanya MenonYeah.

19:39Jawad MirThey ca… you know, it's a, it's an incredible thing that you realize, wow, I've made it this far. Right?

19:46Sharanya MenonYeah.

19:46Jawad MirDo you have those moments sometimes that, you know, you look back that a girl from Chennai working in Mumbai now on big films.

19:54Sharanya MenonYou know, funny enough, this moment I had after the screening of this film. It was just like I had to take a moment just, and step back and say, "I've actually done this." I mean, it didn't sink in till even after I watched the film that I'm, I'm actually the production designer for a feature film in Bollywood. It ju… yeah, it really, and that's why I keep saying that to everyone who's asked me when I, if I've watched the film, and how I feel and what my emotions are. It's, I'm, I'm awestruck by what has happened, because I never expected in, when I was eight, nine, 10, 12, 15, 16, I never even expected that I'd be in Bombay and working in this industry, and here we are. I've done a film. So it's quite amazing how life takes its own journeys and…

20:52Jawad MirYeah

20:52Sharanya Menon... Puts you in places where you never think you would ever be.

20:55Jawad Mir100%, and you know, while we're on that subject, is there a moment, I'm sure there's many, because life is about rejection, especially in our industry. It's like rejection after rejection. And it prepares you and builds you for future things to come. Do you remember one or more than one, you know, two moments where you were completely down and out? Like, you just felt like this isn't working out, and how did you overcome it? It could be 10 years ago. It could be one month ago or whatever it is.

21:29Sharanya MenonI actually had that very episode happen to me, a month ago. In fact, early this year. The, so the industry has been going through a very weird period in terms of, content coming out and m… not a lot of films are being made, so it's quite a dry spell. So for a lot of us, and for me especially, the last six months of last year were quite, iffy, and I really questioned whether I should even stay. I was thinking of parallel jobs and what all I could do, thinking of a side hustle, or maybe sh… I should sh… shift back home. Maybe I should go to Goa, build a base over there. If I go to Goa, and maybe I'll think of doing something over there. You know, all these sort of parallel thoughts were running through my mind, and this was way after we had finished the, production of Mr. & Mrs. Mahi.

22:26Sharanya MenonI had, and early this year, in fact, I had almost given up and said, "Listen, I think I'm done. I think I'll just, you know, s… accept the fact that I'm not gonna do this anymore and move on." And a lot of my friends and peers actually told me like, "Just, I think just give it. Give it some time till the film releases. Wait for that to happen. Maybe the feeling of watching that film will change your perception of what you think you should be doing." I'm glad I listened to them. I'm also still giving myself a deadline and waiting for the film to release and see how things go. But yeah, I've had this phase of rejection happen quite often in the last few months.

23:12Jawad MirYou know, it's interesting you said about that your friend said give it a chance. I was reminded of the story of John, Krasin… Krasinski, husband of…

23:21Sharanya MenonSure

23:21Jawad Mir... Emily Blunt, right?

23:22Sharanya MenonYeah.

23:23Jawad MirYou know who I'm talking about, right?

23:24Sharanya MenonYeah. I think I do.

23:26Jawad MirSo he directed A Quiet Place, but he's an actor and a director, and he was telling a story on one of the late night shows that how, he said to his mom that, you know, "I'm gonna take one year," and it was in New York, I think, "and I'm gonna work really hard, and if, you know, one year doesn't, nothing happens, then I just move on from this. I'm not gonna be an actor."

23:49Sharanya MenonYeah.

23:49Jawad MirAnd one year came, and nothing happened, and he goes to his mom. I could have the story a little bit wrong time-wise, but the gist of it, he goes to his mom that, you know, that said, and his mom goes, "You know what? Just give it another two months."

24:02Jawad MirAnd literally within those two months, he got the offer to star in the TV series Office.

24:08Sharanya MenonThat's sad.

24:08Jawad MirWhich bec… which became a super hit.

24:11Sharanya MenonYeah.

24:11Jawad MirAnd it made his career. So sometimes…

24:13Sharanya MenonI love his role in it.

24:15Jawad MirSorry? Sorry?

24:15Sharanya MenonI love his role in it.

24:18Jawad MirYeah, and it's, it's just amazing that how sometimes we feel down and out… ... When that's the time when you just need to hang on, you know?

24:27Sharanya MenonYeah.

24:28Jawad MirAnd just, keep going, because you just don't know. You only…

24:31Sharanya MenonYeah

24:31Jawad Mir... You only fail when you give up. That's the only way you f…

24:35Sharanya MenonThat's true. And actually, failure is the best learning you could ever have. It's, it's the one thing that gives you the most strength even if you d… if not at that point, but if you just hang on and wait and let the universe do its, take its own path, it actually is the best learning and the best strength it gives at the end of it.

24:59Jawad MirYeah, you should, you should definitely listen to yourself saying that too.

25:05Sharanya MenonYeah.

25:05Jawad MirBecause it's, it... We all need…

25:06Sharanya MenonSee, this is the thing, when I talk to others I can do it, but when I talk to myself it never really works.

25:11Jawad MirYeah. It's interesting, right? Like, the self-doubt creeps in sometimes a little too much, and I find that if you let the self-doubt creeps in, it literally… ... Takes over you very rapidly. Very quickly.

25:24Sharanya MenonYeah.

25:24Jawad MirIt can take over you and your thinking, but sometimes you do need to talk to other people. Just even having a conversation helps, right? So.

25:32Sharanya MenonYeah.

25:32Jawad MirBut

25:32Sharanya MenonEven if they feel like you're talking about it too many times, you just need to vent.

25:37Jawad MirYeah. No, 100%. I'm so glad that you know, didn't... You listened to the

25:44Sharanya MenonYeah

25:44Jawad Mir... Your colleagues and everybody, but what... And I don't know much about your history of your work, and please forgive me on that. It... Would you consider Mr. And Mrs. Mahi to be something that is, something that's the biggest thing that you've done, or you've done many others before?

26:01Sharanya MenonNo, this is actually the biggest thing I have done as an independent production designer. ... I have assisted as an associate with a senior p… production designer in Bollywood, on feature films. But personally, yes, this is my biggest.

26:19Jawad MirIs there a particular director that you would love to work with? I can guess one, but I'll let you say it.

26:28Sharanya MenonOh, I wanna hear it.

26:30Jawad MirSanjay Leela Bhansali.

26:32Sharanya MenonThat's all, as, everyone's girl.

26:34Jawad MirYeah.

26:34Sharanya MenonEveryone's wish. But I…

26:36Jawad MirYeah

26:36Sharanya Menon... Actually do want to work with, Anurag Kashyap whenever he does, do a film. I do want to work with him. I want to work with Vikramaditya Motwane also.

26:49Jawad MirWhat has he done? I know Anurag Kashyap, but I don't know Vikram. What has he done?

26:54Sharanya MenonThe web series Jubilee, which was a period drama.

26:57Jawad MirOkay. Okay.

26:58Sharanya MenonYeah. And he's done, Lootera and all of that also.

27:02Jawad MirWhy do you wanna work with them? What's the reason?

27:05Sharanya MenonIt's just the stories and the moods that they create are something that I have always really stuck with me. And those are worlds I really want to explore. So I think I'm drawn more to them.

27:24Jawad MirYou know what, that's, that's really... I know about Anurag because I've seen his work, over the years. And I just love his, director sensibility and his approach to being completely blunt and straightforward.

27:38Sharanya MenonYeah.

27:39Jawad MirOne thing I was just thinking of, you know, when we're talking about production design, I don't know if you watch, Coke Studio Pakistan.

27:47Sharanya MenonYeah.

27:48Jawad MirSo you've…

27:48Sharanya MenonGot

27:48Jawad Mir... You've seen the making? Yeah, so there was this, the most recent one that they came out, you would really appreciate it. They actually p… uploaded the making of, it's a song called Blockbuster.

27:58Sharanya MenonOkay.

27:58Jawad MirAnd they built a giant set, like a massive set, and they did the entire video in one take. So they had to show everything in 360, and you would really appreciate it from production design standpoint. Like, they created the inner streets of Lahore and how…

28:16Sharanya MenonRight

28:16Jawad Mir... And how they captured the culture and everything in one take. I mean, that's what's so impressive, because in order for a set to work in full, in its full capacity, you... In order for a one-take shot to work its full capacity, you have to have a full set. Like, you can't…

28:30Sharanya MenonYeah

28:30Jawad Mir... Cheat, right? Like, you can't cut away.

28:32Sharanya MenonYeah.

28:33Jawad MirBut you would appreciate that. I just thought of that. Y… so do check it out. It will be something that you'll enjoy.

28:37Sharanya MenonTwo things I need to check out. One is this and one is this. Yeah. Thank you.

28:42Jawad MirWould, what would you ever wanna work in Hollywood?

28:46Sharanya MenonAlways. Actually, maybe not even Hollywood. I want to definitely work on a musical.

28:53Jawad MirAnywhere in the world?

28:55Sharanya MenonAnywhere. I mean, I did go to New York and watch Moulin Rouge, so I'm waiting to go there, but yeah. It's a dream, but yeah, I would definitely wanna work on a musical.

29:07Jawad MirSo one thing that I can think of you'd wanna work on musical, as you said, The King and I and Sound of Music and, you know, the Indian film industry is full of musicals, you know…

29:18Sharanya MenonYeah

29:18Jawad Mir... For the lack of a better word.

29:20Sharanya MenonYeah.

29:20Jawad MirWas it, was there any other reason that you were sort of dr… it's one thing to enjoy music and listen to music, but to be part of a musical as a production designer, is it just solely because of Sound of Music and King and I, or is there another reason?

29:37Sharanya MenonNo, it, I mean, it's as simple as I love how the world is integrated into the music or the music is integrated into the world. I think a lot of my, a lot of my inspiration also comes from a lot of songs. I love listening to music, so I'm trying to constantly imagine and visualize a world of how it would be when I'm hearing those lyrics, when, what... If I were to make a video, what it would be. So I think it's that.

30:04Sharanya MenonIt's more how the music has affected what we actually see.

30:12Jawad MirVery well said.

30:13Sharanya MenonI mean, this…

30:14Jawad MirThat's true

30:14Sharanya Menon... This film actually we hardly had any music. We hardly had any songs. They were all background songs. But I must say that we did have a score while we were shooting, which when we heard the lyrics, it really did drive us to think of what small moments we could create and what emotions…

30:37Sharanya Menon... We could derive from it, and that really did help the process also.

30:43Jawad MirIt's so incredible that music is such a powerful tool, because even for me, you know, growing up, I've been listening to scores, like, of…

30:52Sharanya MenonYeah

30:52Jawad Mir... Films like, you know, Gladiator, 1492: Conquest of Paradise…

30:56Sharanya MenonYeah

30:56Jawad Mir... Last of the Mohicans. Even growing up, before I got into directing films, I was always visualizing, like, you know, we'd be driving in the car listening to music and I'm, like, literally visualizing cutting with, you know, with my own…

31:08Sharanya MenonYeah.

31:08Jawad Mir... Eyes from here to there. And music is such a powerful tool. It just does so many wonders for so many people. Aside from being, you know, just like a thing, something you listen to, but just the visualization, as you said. Wonderful.

31:19Sharanya MenonYeah.

31:22Jawad MirWhat's... Anything next for you that's coming up that, or right now things are a little dry?

31:27Sharanya MenonDry, right now just working on commercials and, I did a music video recently for a friend, but that's about it. No long formats yet.

31:40Jawad MirI think it's not just in India, even, here, in US and Canada, things are... Well, here m… mostly because of the strike and…

31:49Sharanya MenonYeah

31:49Jawad Mir... COVID and streaming, things have sort of, kinda gone dry, and I was reading this the other day, that the streaming platforms have so much content…

32:02Sharanya MenonYeah

32:02Jawad Mir... That they haven't used…

32:04Sharanya MenonYeah

32:04Jawad Mir... That they probably are good for another year…

32:07Sharanya MenonThat's true

32:07Jawad Mir... You know, without... So they're c… they're just trying to save money. But I don't know how it is in India, but, I thought Amazon and Netflix were really piling in on productions in India.

32:19Sharanya MenonNetflix originals have been quite a few this year. They've not really done too much. Amazon is still churning out something or the other, but… ... Not Net… not Netflix so much. And I've also heard the same thing, that a lot of, projects have been put on the back burner because ex… A, there's not much money coming in also

32:41Sharanya Menon... Because there are not many films being released also. So it's kind of a vicious cycle. It just…

32:46Jawad MirYeah

32:46Sharanya Menon... We're, we're waiting for it to get done, hopefully soon.

32:50Jawad MirIt will. It will. There's always a cycle that comes and goes, right?

32:53Sharanya MenonYeah.

32:53Jawad MirSo it will. Is there a particular story, historic story that you would want to be a part of as a production designer? Doesn't matter director, doesn't matter who's making it, or a certain period?

33:10Sharanya MenonI've always wanted to do a period film that was based around The Gatsby. I think that's my go-to space, art deco style, so I think that's what I would really want to do.

33:31Jawad MirI think you need to work with Baz Luhrmann. You seem to like him.

33:35Sharanya MenonI wish, I wish.

33:39Jawad MirI haven't seen his most recent film, Elvis, yet, which I…

33:42Sharanya MenonOh

33:42Jawad Mir... Heard is really great.

33:44Sharanya MenonYes.

33:45Jawad MirBut yeah, and, you know, sort of just to kind of wrap things up, I really appreciate the work that, you know, not just as a creative person myself, but just an audience member, that I see in films in India. Again, I don't watch all of them, right?

34:06Jawad MirI don't watch all of the Indian cinema, very s… especially the ones that come on Netflix or Amazon.

34:12Sharanya MenonYeah.

34:13Jawad MirBut I'm just so glad that there's, and I said this earlier, great stories coming out. You know, there's a thorough research on characters. Like, even there's other sports one coming out. I spoke to the DP of, Heeramandi, Sandeep Chhelaji.

34:29Sharanya MenonYes, yeah.

34:29Jawad MirAnd I think he is the DP in the upcoming movie by Kabir Khan

34:34Sharanya MenonOkay

34:34Jawad Mir... Chandu…

34:35Sharanya MenonChandu Champion

34:35Jawad Mir... Chandu Champion. Yeah.

34:37Sharanya MenonYeah.

34:37Jawad MirSo it's, it's good to see those kind of stories, because I think what happened in the '90s in India, as great of an era as that was from a music standpoint and storytelling standpoint, we... There was just, like, the cycle of the same story, right?

34:53Sharanya MenonYeah.

34:53Jawad MirLike, the hero and the heroine and the dad and, you know.

34:56Sharanya MenonYeah.

34:57Jawad MirBut it's just so... And that's not average person's story. Like, now you see…

35:01Sharanya MenonYeah

35:01Jawad Mir... Stories about what happens after marriage, right?

35:04Sharanya MenonYeah.

35:05Jawad MirWhat happens after this.

35:07Sharanya MenonYeah.

35:07Jawad MirAnd it's, it's incredible, and I'm really enjoying that, and I hope, you know, the good movies keep coming out. And, you know, looking forward to seeing you doing more work, 'cause I, from what I saw in the trailer in Mr. And Mrs. Mahi, it looked as real as it can get.

35:26Sharanya MenonThank you. Thank you so much. And I must say, like, Indian cinema has come a long way. The content, it's more content driven now. People are not bothered about who's starring as it, in it, as much as what the story is giving to you as an audience, what are, how are you reacting.

35:43Jawad MirYou think so?

35:45Sharanya MenonYeah. A lot of, a lot of films I've seen of late, I mean, okay, I'm not even going to generalize it with just Bollywood. I'm saying of pan-India. There's been a real shift in the way directors are now treating stories. You know? And I feel like that's a great thing that's happened.

36:03Jawad MirIt is. Do you think it has a lot to do with South Indian films?

36:11Sharanya MenonA lot. A lot of Malayalam films, a lot of… ... Tamil films are now venturing into spaces that were never touched upon. And people, like you rightly said, people are touching upon subjects which at one point you really didn't want to know about, like even taboo subjects, supposed taboo subjects like divorce…

36:32Sharanya Menon... And, gay activism and gender identity and all of that. And it's, it's, it's obviously a step for the better because we have so many stories in our country to say and to tell and explore, and I'm glad it's going that way.

36:50Jawad MirYeah. No, there is some incredible stuff coming out and I just... Sometimes, you know, you see movies, at least I see the, sometimes I see the entire movie in a trailer, like, you know, those…

37:03Sharanya MenonYeah

37:03Jawad Mir... Main, mainstream movies…

37:05Sharanya MenonYeah

37:05Jawad Mir... Which are directed towards the masses.

37:08Sharanya MenonYeah.

37:08Jawad MirAnd they keep getting made, and I'm like, "Who's watching these?" But then I realize…... Y… and I realize I'm not the audience for, right?

37:16Sharanya MenonYeah.

37:16Jawad MirThere's a different audience for everything. But that's awesome. Any plans now that the film is coming out, just in general life that you wanna do?

37:29Sharanya MenonNo, I mean, I really don't have any plans. I'm in fact working on a commercial, in the next few days. So I'm gonna just take tomorrow off, try and enjoy the release a bit however, whatever, in whatever way, and then back to work after that.

37:48Jawad MirYeah. Well, I hope the film is successful, and I hope it gives you more work and more reputation, and I really enjoyed talking to you, not just about the film, but just in general.

37:59Sharanya MenonYeah.

37:59Jawad MirYou know, the conversation. Would love to do this again sometime down the road, whenever you have something else coming out or even a commercial or a music video. You know, whatever that is, just to have a casual conversation. I really enjoyed, talking to you. Thank you so much.

38:13Sharanya MenonThank you so much. Thank you for having me here.