Grand maratha

The royal palace at Sawantwadi in southern Maharashtra,was transformed into the Chittagong of the 30s for Ashutosh Gowarikars Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey.

The royal palace at Sawantwadi in southern Maharashtra,was transformed into the Chittagong of the 30s for Ashutosh Gowarikars Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey.

It was art director Nitin Desai who chanced upon the ancient palace when he was location hunting for Khelein Hum Jee Kaan Sey. The abode of the royals of Sawantwadi with its verdant environment,ethnic brown walls and carved rooms was the perfect setting for the period thriller based on the Chittagong uprising of the 1930s.

Once the permissions to shoot in the palace were obtained,the 300-year-old building located on a lakeside and made in solid stone and almost lost in the midst of overgrown vegetation and knee-high grass and creepers,went in for a complete transformation. The makeover meant neat gardens,crushed red brick driveways,a gallows in the palace courtyard for a hanging scene,and white fences akin to a British colonial settlement.

It was the first time that a film was shot in Sawantwadi,and the stunning palace that belongs to the late king Sivaram Raje Bhosales queen,who still resides there.

The artifacts and paintings in the interiors were also changed to suit a Bengali household. Ashutosh scanned the antique market in Kolkata and got some unique stuff like huge brass utensils,paintings of Goddess Durga,wooden badminton racquets,clocks and the works and made the entire place look like a settlement in Chittagong in the 30s, says Sikandar,who plays a defiant revolutionary in the film and Abhishek Bachchans aide.

Sikandar found shooting in and around the laid-back town of Sawantwadi akin to a meditation programme because of the serene and calm environment of the locales. Every locale was about a fifteen minute drive from where we were staying. Surrounded by greenery with no traffic ,even driving around was a joy. There were no outside disturbances or distractions,for the entire three and a half months of shoot. Also Ashu-sir made sure that the cast and crew sat down and had all their three meals together. He also organised badminton and cricket tournaments to ensure complete bonding between everyone on the sets, smiles Sikandar,saying that the whole experience of shooting there was unforgettable.