Set to party king-size!

The wedding venue for Mumbai resident Shilpa Bahl’s brother’s wedding reception was designed on a Buddha bar theme with a large statue of Lord Buddha adorning the entrance and several framed photos of Lord Buddha placed at different corners of the space. There was lounge music playing, adding a serene charm to the entire evening. The party, which was supposed to end at midnight, continued till three in the morning with guests raving about the striking ambience. The reception remains an unforgettable experience and a topic of discussion for most of the guests till date.

Jewellery designer Reshma Chabria’s cocktail theme reception was a major hit. Covered with white orchids against a green background, the interiors had different sized pillars with floral work on it. A soft violet colour lighting set the stage for the evening and gave it a lounge feel, livening the entire décor and giving a chilled out and fun feel.

Say hello to larger than life theme party sets designed by none other than film set designers. A case in point being, Priti Sidhwani and Shashank Tere of Dreamz Kraft. Art directors for films like Rock On! and Delhi Belly, they began experimenting with designing theme parties a couple of years back

“There is not much difference between designing film sets and designing for theme parties as we are told about the scene for the film, here we are told about the kind of party it is,” states Tere.

From creating elaborate theme wedding sets to birthday parties, they find this an extension of their film job. In fact, there has been a rise in demand for themed parties which look straight out of a movie. From kids’ birthday parties to a new film launched, people want a piece of Bollywood to add vibrancy to their celebrations.

With top notch industrialists and diamond merchants roping film set designers for their services, the demand for film set designers doubling up as party organisers is growing by leaps and bound.

“We are expecting to organise atleast 55 theme weddings between October and January,” informs Tere.

From creating themes like Moroccan lounge, Moulin Rouge, Fireball, tribal to designing cityscapes like the Benaras ghats, Venice and the recently designed Mandala theme, they do it all.

“We created Venice in Surat as part of a wedding theme. We built the brick flooring and even constructed a water tank to show the river flowing through,” says Amaya Bhoite, creative head, Dreamz Kraft. For a Moroccan theme, a lot of deep tone colours were used, with velvet drapes lined with gold, Moroccan lamps, crystal strings and cut glass items as part of the decor. Giving a lounge feel was the cushions strewn across the sette,  hookahs and Middle-Eastern music to compliment the theme.

Reasons art director Bijon Das Gupta, “As art directors, we know where to get the props, how to use the space and create an illusional space for a few hours.” Having done art direction for films like Umrao Jaan, Saagar, Dhamaal, Maine Pyaar Kiya and Dil among others, Das Gupta had started the trend of doubling up as theme party organiser way back in the Seventies.

“During those days there weren’t too many event companies who organised weddings or parties and we as art directors knew the technicality involved in creating and designing the space,” says Das Gupta. For him, designing theme parties and creating larger than life sets for special occasions was a natural step forward as an art director.

In the 80s, he was asked by director Yash Chopra to design diamond merchant Bharat Shah’s family wedding function which was a mega event. When the film Chandni Bar was released, Das Gupta was told to do a themed party based on it, he states.

He adds, “It’s not just the art directors but even fashion designers are getting roped in to design theme parties.”

The time and cost depends on the area and the days of availability of a certain property. A basic party can start from Rs3 to Rs 6 lakh and a grand wedding including all ceremonies can even reach to Rs15lakh or more.

So what makes their work different from the wedding decorators in the city? Bahl finds the regular wedding decorators to be prone to using props which are repetitive. Art directors on their part state that it is their ability to recreate even mammoth sets in less time together with their knowledge of knowing where to buy the right props which makes them so much in demand.