The industry and fans woke up to the shocking news today that art director Nitin Desai, who created the memorable sets in films like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), Devdas (2002), Jodhaa Akbar (2008), Lagaan (2001) etc, passed away. The National Award-winning art director reportedly died by suicide at the sprawling ND Studio in Karjat near Mumbai on August 2, 2023, at 4:30 am. Nitin Desai was 57 years old.
Nitin Desai worked in numerous films over the years. A lot has been talked about his sets for the Hrithik Roshan-Aishwarya Rai Bachchan starrer Jodhaa Akbar. However, his sets for Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (2015) were also praiseworthy. In an interview with Mumbai Mirror a day before the release of the Salman Khan-Sonam Kapoor starrer, he had said that it was the “biggest and longest film of his career”.
In this interview, Nitin Desai said that in 2013, he came on board for Prem Ratan Dhan Payo two years before the release of the film. After director Sooraj Barjatya briefed that he would have to create several palaces, Nitin toured Gujarat and Rajasthan. He took inspiration from several palaces, some of which were Laxmi Vilas in Baroda and Naulakha Palace in Gondal. It took six months for Nitin Desai and his team to painstakingly build the sets from scratch.
Nitin Desai was quoted as saying, “I've built a 260 ft x 120 ft, 68 ft tall, one-roof mahal with a 1,500 ft garden in front and a 500 ft garden at the back. The main hall where the Raj Tilak sequence plays out has specially designed 40 ft x 20 ft chandeliers made of diamonds and crystal, stained glass and inlay panels made of real gold and flooring which took 150 women to lay out.”
The set was as good as a palace. It consisted of “a dining room, a conference hall, a kitchen, a swimming pool, a visitors' section and the royal quarters which includes the living room, office and a lavishly appointed 240 ft x 60 ft bedroom in three sections”.
That’s not all. He built two smaller palaces, belonging to Prem’s (Salman Khan) estranged sisters with a vast football ground in the front. But the most remarkable set was that of the Sheesh Mahal. Nitin Desai revealed that it was made by craftsmen from Jaipur and Udaipur and boasted of as many as 1 crore mirrors, with the glass dome being made of 33 lakh mirrors! The mahal was divided into three parts – the main hall, a glass maze and a hamam section.
Having a set of glass and mirrors can be challenging but Nitin Desai, an expert that he was, took due care of it. He proudly stated, “I made a lot of graphs and models, even shut myself in a black box to ensure that the angles were right and the mirrors did not reflect light. Not a single minute's shoot has been disrupted.”
The mention of Sheesh Mahal immediately reminds one of Mughal-E-Azam (1960). Nitin Desai confessed that he saw the classic when he was in Class 8 and ever since, it was his dream of building his own Sheesh Mahal. Before Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, he did get the opportunity but it never materialized due to budget issues.
While signing off, Nitin Desai said, “Ever since the first trailer came out, people have been asking me where these palaces are located. 95% of the film, which included 200 scenes, was shot on studio sets. The song ‘Jalte Diye’ was shot over five days and required batches of 10,000 lamps adding up to two lahks… It's my biggest and longest film so far."
Sheesh Mahal is now a tourist attraction. Tourists who visit ND Studio get a chance to visit the Prem Ratan Dhan Payo sets, which have been preserved by the deceased art director.
Also Read: Art Director Nitin Desai dies by suicide at ND Studio in Karjat
More Pages: Prem Ratan Dhan Payo Box Office Collection , Prem Ratan Dhan Payo Movie Review
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