Setting The Mood

A set designer talks about the heartbreaks that come with dismantling what she creates—homes, worlds, lives.

- Chinki Sinha

It is an empty house. A few books, a few sandals, two mattresses, a desk and a chair. Outside, the pink bougainvillea is in full bloom. You can see the ruins from the balcony of this house on a summer afternoon. There’s time. Empty spaces are for her to fill, and this one belongs to acclaimed writer Vikram Seth. And this time, it will be a house that won’t be demolished. That’s solace, for now.

The Beginning

Years after she designed the sets which included building a whole house in Goa, for the Bourne Identity series, production designer Aradhana Seth still hasn’t returned to the site even though she now lives in Goa. Of all the temporary homes and spaces she has built over the years, this was one she got attached to. Such are the occupational hazards of her work—you need a heart of steel perhaps to demolish what you once created.

From a distance, it looks like a giant clam shell. A song sequence for