The recently released film Homebound has been lauded for many reasons, foremost among them the authentic realism brought alive by its makers. One of the key architects of this authenticity is production designer Khyatee Kanchan. She began her journey as an assistant production designer in Dhoom 2 (2006). She later worked as a production designer in films such as Ugly Aur Pagli (2008), Phoonk 2 (2009), Badmaash Company (2010), and Maidaan (2024), among others. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, Khyatee Kanchan spoke about her work in Homebound and later opened up about Maidaan as well.
EXCLUSIVE: Production designer Khyatee Kanchan opens up on Maidaan: “PAINFUL to see our set destroyed by cyclone; we built the sets 4 times…HATS OFF to Boney Kapoor for never ever thinking of shelving the project”
You were a part of another outstanding film, Maidaan. How do you look back at it?
Maidaan was a completely different experience from Homebound. There’s a physical aspect to designing Movies. Maidaan was that – a Biographical sports period drama. Biographical meant that we had to be true to Syed Abdul Rahim Saba. Sports was tough during covid times as we had to film with crowds for the football matches; my favourite amongst them all is Period, where everything in the frame needs to be period-correct and authentic. It was one of the most challenging and yet fulfilling projects for me.
Was it heartbreaking when the set in Madh Island was destroyed by the cyclone?
Yes, it was extremely painful to see our labour of love destroyed during the cyclone. But before that, due to COVID, we had built the same stadium set in Madh Island twice. That set was built 4 times, in all. It was an Olympic-sized stadium with 12 plus camera towers and a patch of grass land to curate the grass for the stadium.
How did you, producer Boney Kapoor, director Amit Sharma and others manage to pull the film despite the pandemic-related challenges? What kept you guys going?
It was extremely tough during COVID. Since we had started filming a lot of talkie parts at the beginning of the project, unaware that a pandemic was going to hit us. After the first lockdown, we had to film the football matches, which meant that we needed players and crowds. In this situation, hats off to Boney ji that he kept going and never ever thinking of shelving the project. He had full faith in Amit and the whole team. The fact that we had put so much of our lives into this film, nothing was going to stop us and eventually, after all the hardships, we did manage to have a film which is made with heart.
How was it working with a star like Ajay Devgn?
It was a great experience working with Mr. Ajay Devgan. He truly is one of the most sorted actors of our industry. He knows his craft inside out.
What are your future projects?
Currently, I am busy with TV commercials, just finished the multi-starrer Flipkart commercial with Amitabh Bachchan, Alia Bhatt, Mahesh Bhatt and Farah Khan. Also reading a few scripts, but can’t disclose anything just yet (smiles).
More Pages: Maidaan Box Office Collection , Maidaan Movie Review
BOLLYWOOD NEWS – LIVE UPDATES
Catch us for latest Bollywood News, New Bollywood Movies update, Box office collection, New Movies Release , Bollywood News Hindi, Entertainment News, Bollywood Live News Today & Upcoming Movies 2025 and stay updated with latest hindi movies only on Bollywood Hungama.
