The people who design Bollywood

The people who design Bollywood

When we look at the word 'designer' in Bollywood context, our glance is usually fixated upon the people who have made Rani Mukherji's sari or Kareena Kapoor's earrings or Saif Ali Khan's blazer.

Yet -- as important as costumiers may well be -- dressing the film itself is a whole different kind of expertise.

Here's a quick look, then, at some of Bollywood's most prolific art directors, the people largely responsible for the look and feel of the film.

Here are a few who do truly sensational stuff.

Sabu Cyril

Cyril, one of the best respected art directors in India, also works exhaustively in cinema down south.

Starting his career with 1991's Uncle Bun, Cyril's first Hindi film was Gardish but he truly began to make waves only after blowing us away with Kala Pani and Virasat.

Then came Kamal Haasan's Hey Ram, Priyadarshan's Hera Pheri and Santosh Sivan's Asoka -- a range of films that shows Cyril's only too happy to experiment, to mix it up.

Even now, he balances a Yuva with a Jaan-E-Mann, and a Guru with an Om Shanti Om.

Samir Chanda

Talk about starting out with masala.

Samir Chanda began his career with Subhash Ghai's dhin-a-dhin-ta blockbuster, Ram Lakhan, back in 1989.

Since then, however, he's never been one to play it safe and constantly pushed the envelope with films like Mammo and Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin.

Mani Ratnam fans deified Chanda after he made Dil Se look breathtaking in every frame, while Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra used Chanda's expertise to great effect in his Rang De Basanti.

His last film -- Omkara -- could arguably be called his most stunning bit of work, but then his Ghajini is out this December

Sarmishtha Roy

A trailblazing woman in the big bad largely male Bollywood environs, Roy came to attention right with her first film, 1994's Yeh Dillagi.

With a flair for the urbane and the Americanised, Roy has gone on to create funky rooms and bizarrely interesting penthouses, equally adept at mansions and mayhem.

She's a Yash Raj Films regular, working on successes like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Dil Toh Pagal Hai, but varies her other projects like Taal, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Gajagamini and Koi Mil Gaya.

Her last film? Ta Ra Rum Pum