Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and now Aake

KM Chaitanya’s horror flick Aake promises to be a treat for the eyes, and one can see the director stick to the promise, considering that he has some of best international talent on board. This includes people who have worked on the Harry Potter films and the Game of Thrones series. And the experience has left quite an impression on Chaitanya. Except for two assistants and the cast of actors, the entire crew of the film — put together by producer Sunanda Manohar— is British.Chaitanya tells us about them:
Ian Howes, DOP: Ian was one of the operative camerapersons for the Harry Potter films, and has shot large portions of the film. His approach to lighting is very different, which gives the film a unique look.
Paul Burns, production designer: Paul has worked on films like The Magnificent Eleven and The Knot; it was fascinating working with him and his team. They gave me several location options. They worked with the cameraman and made each scene look beautiful, all while ensuring that everything looks very real.
Dominic Devine, art director: Dominic used to consult with me on various things and gave me many options on how he could make the set look good.
Matt Strange, special effects, & Bethany Lewis, special makeup: Matt has worked on the Game of Thrones, and both he and Bethany have done a wonderful job.
Comet Chukura, costume designer: Comet is very talented. For the first time, I saw someone who could make Chiru (Chiranjeevi Sarja) dance to their tune. She would wake him up, push him into the bathroom, put in him in the car and bring him to the set. She completely bullied him (laughs).
Carl Austin, writer: Carl, who has written Provoked, co-wrote the screenplay with me. We were simultaneously writing in two different countries and talking throughout the process. It was excellent working with him.
Chaitanya adds that he has learnt a lot from the British crew and hopes to incorporate the learnings in his future films. “One of the things that impressed me the most about them is that each and every person had read the entire script and made notes, which they shared during the production meetings. They had thought of all the minor details, such as how the actors should dress in a scene or how faded their bruises should be. Even while shooting, everyone was looking at each frame to ensure that nothing goes wrong. As a director, I was looking at the performance, but they were looking at other things like the costume, makeup, etc. It was very enabling as a director since you know that you are not alone,” he says.