All set to design

"I love the process of design — it is so intense. You erect and dismantle a set over four or five months for a film shoot. In an ad film though, my fun is a day before the shoot,” when one is setting up the backdrop, says Fali Unwalla — architect, interior designer and set designer. Also a sculptor, sailor and piano player. His home has walls covered with paintings — some originals of well known artists, some his own works; there are also antique statues and bric-a-brac. Cars are his other passion as can be perceived from the compound of the family bungalow which is geared up to house the old splendors. The fit 56-year-old Unwalla dabbles in yoga and gets his spiritual sustenance from a 24-hour divo burning in the house.

Fali Unwalla

"In doing a set for ad films it takes me a total of about 10 days — two-three days to design, three-four to construct the sets and one day to shoot, if a short ad. I love redoing structural interiors — rip them apart and restructure them… Have done several in Alibaug.” What he enjoys less and less is doing an architect’s job for which he is trained. Chasing contractors is not his cup of tea he says, especially as they are unable to deliver the finish and the exact artistry he has in mind. The perfectionist claims his architecture degree from the J. J. College of Architecture gave him the background needed for creating sets for films — whether Bollywood, feature or ad films. He has also done "television commercials for most major (retail) brands.”
Unwalla sees architecture as far more technical and time consuming as compared to set designing which is also quicker. He likes design but prefers someone else to do the scaling to bring the project to measure in real life scale, he recounts.
Regarding competition he says, "I don’t feel I have to compete with anyone. I enjoy working with people, even ask for help… The industry is very small and we share stuff,” he says humbly. Some of the Bollywood films he has created sets for are Baabul, Aaja Nachlé, Happy, Don 2 — The King is Back and Zokkomon. A flavor of how he views his filming work is summed up with "I enjoy the process of film set making so it is not just a job. It’s more of a passion which I am lucky enough to have as my career choice.”
In theater he is much sought after for creating sets. His latest venture was the play (still running) The Buckingham Secret, written and directed by fellow Zoroastrian Meherzad Patel. Much brouhaha was dusted up with the sets imploding on the first day of the play’s presentation at the Tata Theatre (TT) at the National Centre for the Preforming Arts. TT has a revolving stage which was activated by the engineer-in-charge who did not notice a snagged curtain between the two rotating stages, leading to the mishap. Unwalla animatedly explains that they secure sets sturdily and this would never have happened but for the caught curtain. With a round stage, creating sets at TT is always a challenge he clarifies.

Straddling two professions, he "goes with the director’s vision” in the case of set design but in interiors Unwalla chats with his clients to acquaint himself with their preferences in designing their residences and considers his "best jobs” have emerged after studying the occupant’s habits. "I am 99% right in what I suggest.”

Never a dull moment
Exposed from his youth to artists such as the late B. Vitthal, his late wife B. Prabha and sculptor Piloo Pochkhanawala, Unwalla grew up appreciating the nuances of all forms of art — after all his family occupies maestro Zubin Mehta’s former home at Cuffe Parade.
The set designer acknowledges having learnt the ropes from doyen Sam Kerawalla. He also pays tribute to the late Pearl Padamsee who gave him his first break in theater set design at age 17, when she asked him to fabricate a bedroom in a Parsi household. He loved the assignment so much that he has accepted theater projects ever since. His on-stage escapade at acting at his alma mater Campion School ended with his preference for setting up the stage rather than staging a performance. He says he is in awe of talent and big names but not necessarily of the glitterati.
No two days pass without his relaxing at the piano which he learnt from the late teachers Olga Craen and Piloo Maneckjee. He now studies with Roshan Chowna. His favorite Western music composer is Sergei Rachmaninoff. A glance at Unwalla’s large hands reveals his facility to span the widely spaced chords of the Russian’s piano compositions. Eclectic in his taste for music, he listens to rock, pop, Bollywood, opera, earthy Ertha Kitt with the husky voice and sitar maestro Ustad Vilayat Khan.
Sporty in physique, Unwalla is an amateur sailor and has skills enough to enter world championships. When asked about awards, Unwalla states, "Yes (won) lots of medals and championships, both national and international. My brother (Jeejee) and I received the Arjuna Award as well.” This was in 1982. The yachtsman’s association with Mandva goes back to his childhood at a time when those who owned a house there had some connection with sailing or yachting. The bachelor also sculpts in bronze and casts at a foundry.

Above: Sets of the current play The Buckingham Secret

His father Adi still paints and works in glass and "is planning one last exhibition probably in February 2015 and is working towards it... He is a mere 84 years young,” Fali informs us. The son continues, "I sketch, but I can’t paint.” His gracious late mother Rutty was not only a devout practitioner of the B. K. S. Iyengar school of yoga but also taught the discipline for decades. Her third son Fali’s knowledge and practice of yoga started from there. His two older brothers (Pesi and Jimmy) live in Canada and Jeejee, the youngest, lives in Australia.
While initially a student at the Ahmedabad School of Architecture, Unwalla found the food, entertainment and companionship were not what he hungered for in a city. His appalled parents’ opposition to his leaving eased when the nonconformist won admission to ‘the JJ’. He states that good friend Ratan Batliboi and he were always in it together at the JJ, though "Ratan was usually first (in class).”
When asked if being a Zoroastrian helps in his profession, Unwalla shoots back: "A lot. You are seen as trustworthy, having good taste and not flashy. A flashy car is against our taste.” Contemplatively he adds: "it has its drawbacks too.” When asked to do a set for a modest home, the producer wondered if Fali was acquainted with the subtleties of such a habitat — implying that his sphere of experience as a Parsi was limited to the urbane and wealthy. "I have friends in Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority homes (which are by and large low-end residences), in the slums too.” Unwalla felt faulted. Chirpily he continues that having been widely travelled, "I know what San Francisco looks like, so it helps” (when creating a set for a musical or play). He also reminisces about his set design for the Teach for India awards night. Among the several genres he has covered in set design, no mention is made of the fashion show circuit that he also dabbles in — though infrequently now.
An ardent Zoroastrian, he says "he has traditional values and goes regularly to the agiary. I know all our prayers by heart. I follow all the rituals when at funerals or marriages. I wear a dagli. I love the concept of Zoroastrianism. But I don’t like factions. I visit Navsari and go to Udvada too…
"I was inducted into the Zoroastrian faith by my grandfather who was a priest who also taught us the importance of every other faith and religion. While I enjoy following the customs of my religion and community I feel that religion in itself is highly personal and the choice of a person should be respected. Interfaith marriage again is a personal choice and I would not judge or condemn anyone for following a path which they feel is right as long as it does not harm anyone else... All religions are equal, only customs differ.”
He adds,"extremely happy and honored to be born a Parsi and I hope I do the community proud.”