I enjoyed working for both Yuva and Aayutha Ezhuthu. I would say for a student of art direction they were interesting films because there were three different characters from three different backgrounds.

"I had to recreate Kolkata in Chennai for Yuva, and then recreate the Chennai port in Mumbai. In the film, from Abhishek Bachchan's house, you could see the Howrah Bridge. What I did was, I created a compound wall, and then placed the bridge on top of that wall. The vehicles on the road looked as if they were crossing the Howrah Bridge!

"The pace at which Mani Ratnam worked also was challenging. He was very, very fast."

Photograph: On the sets of Aayutha Ezhuthu.