Mega Prince Varun Tej's Valmiki directed by Harish Shankar is all set to grace theaters on September 20th. Everyone is getting excited to enjoy the remix of Sobhan Babu, Sridevi' 'Velluvachi Godaramma' from Devata on Varun Tej and Pooja Hegde. Art director Avinash Kolla revealed the secrets of Devata song remix in Valmiki.
He said, “It is very rare to use those kinds of styles and sets in remix songs. However we have taken extreme care so as not to lose the feel of the original 'Velluvachi Godaramma' song. We planned to shoot the song on the banks of Godavari River. However due to heavy rains, we erected a set on the sands near Yanam. We were scared of the metal vessels in the song. The metal vessels used for the song shoot in the original were of different sizes and shapes. Now those are not available in the market. So we got 1200 metal vessels specially designed in Tamil Nadu.
Generally a set will be erected with modern mechanism. However this set required the support of workers as everything got to be designed then and there. Winds used to blow as it is an open space with sands surrounded by water. Even though we placed metal vessels, they used to fall due to heavy winds. We experienced trouble arranging them quite frequently. We were required to change the design after one particular shoot.
Everyone got bruises on their legs running in the sand. We designed metal vessels in around 300-400 sq ft area. 80 people worked day and night for them. We poured more sand in the lower metal vessel and little less in the next one etc. We were forced to change the metal vessels if they did not appear in the heart shape. Everyone was on the toes for the entire five days of the song shoot. During those days, I used to enjoy the song shot by Raghavendra Rao but only now I realized the hard work he underwent for the song shoot. Ayananka Bose, cinematographer who was from Mumbai was unaware of these metal vessels set but after entering the sets, he said it was wonderful.
We erected more than 36-period sets like a fort, a lane, a hose, etc. We cannot show everyone but since it is a period film we require a lot of research.
Atharvaa Murali and Mrinali Ravi are the other lead cast in the film where Dimple Hayathi will be seen sizzling on the special number Jarra Jarra.