Thota Tharani is an Indian film

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

and

production designer In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wo ...

who has predominantly worked in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

, and

Malayalam cinema Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, ''Elippathayam' ...

and

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

. As of 2013, he has won two

National Film Awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...

, two

Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassing ...

and four

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence in Tamil cinema in India. They were given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to the South Indian film industry by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The aw ...

. His work consists of paintings, murals, paper collages, wooden montages, and installations and so on.

Film career

Thota Tharani has been involved in the art of set design since he was just twelve when he helped his father. His work in the films ''

Nayakan ''Nayakan'' (; ) is a 1987 Indian Tamil-language gangster film written and directed by Mani Ratnam. Produced by Muktha Srinivasan, the film stars Kamal Haasan, Saranya (in her feature debut) and Karthika, with Janagaraj, Vijayan, M. V. Vasu ...

'' and ''

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

'' earned him

National Film Award The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directora ...

s. His works include construction of a huge set replica of the Madurai Meenakshi Temple for the Telugu movie '' Arjun'', ''

Dasavathaaram ''Dasavathaaram'' () is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language science fiction action film directed by K. S. Ravikumar. It stars Kamal Haasan, who also wrote the script, in ten distinct roles. Asin appears in two roles and Mallika Sherawat plays a subs ...

'', ''

Kanthaswamy ''Kanthaswamy'' is a 2009 Indian Tamil-language superhero film written and directed by Susi Ganesan, starring Vikram as the titular character, with Prabhu, Shriya Saran, Ashish Vidyarthi, Mukesh Tiwari, Krishna Ghattamaneni and Vadivelu fo ...

'' and ''

Leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...

''. He has worked in more than 100 feature films as a production designer, including three foreign productions: '' Pondichéry, dernier comptoir des Indes'' (French), ''Hanuman'' (French) and ''Branchie'' (Italian). In addition to being an art director, Thota Tharani has worked as a Production designer and in the art department of various films.

Background

Thota Tharani completed his Graduate Diploma in Mural Painting in 1971 and subsequently was offered a Fellowship from the Government of France to study print-making. Additionally, he completed print making courses from the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

in London and New Delhi.

Awards

Tiltles and honours * 2001 –

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

* 2010 –

Honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

(

D.Litt Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

) from

Sathyabama University Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology (SIST), formerly Sathyabama University, is a deemed to be university, situated at Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was founded in 1987 as Sathyabama Engineering College by the late Jeppiaar and re ...

National Film Award for Best Art Direction The National Film Award for Best Production Design is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several award ...

* 1987 – ''

'' * 1996 – ''

Nandi Award for Best Art Director This is a list of winners of the Nandi Award for Best Art Director.(in Telugu) References {{reflist Art Director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, fil ...

(in

) * 1983 – ''

Sagara Sangamam ''Sagara Sangamam'' () is a 1983 Indian Telugu-language dance film written and directed by K. Viswanath and produced by Edida Nageswara Rao. The film stars Kamal Haasan, Jaya Prada, Sarath Babu, S. P. Sailaja and Chakri Toleti. Upon release, ...

'' * 1989 – '' Geethanjali'' * 2004 – '' Arjun''

Kerala State Film Award for Best Art Director The Kerala State Film Award The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala and since 1998 the awards have bee ...

* 1991 – ''

Abhimanyu Abhimanyu is a legendary warrior from the ancient Hindu history ''Mahabharata''. He was born to the third Pandava prince Arjuna and the Yadu princess Subhadra, who was Krishna's younger sister. The ''Sambhava Parva'' of the Adi Parva sta ...

Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Art Director The Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Art Director is given by the state government as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil ( Kollywood) films. The list See also * Tamil cinema * Cinema of India References {{Tamil Na ...

* 1991 – ''

Thalapathi ''Thalapathi'' () is a 1991 Indian Tamil-language gangster drama film written and directed by Mani Ratnam, and produced by G. Venkateswaran. The film stars Rajinikanth and Mammootty with Arvind Swamy in his feature-film debut, Jaishankar, Amri ...

'' * 1994 – '' Kaadhalan'' * 2005 – ''

Chandramukhi ''Chandramukhi'' () is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language comedy horror film written and directed by P. Vasu. A remake of Vasu's Kannada film ''Apthamitra'' (2004), which itself loosely based on the Malayalam film ''Manichitrathazhu'' (1993), the fi ...

'' * 2007 – ''

Sivaji Sivaji is an Indian actor who appears in Telugu films. He won Nandi Award for Best Male Dubbing Artist for the movie '' Dil'' (voice for Nitin). Career Sivaji is from Narsarsopet in Guntur district. Sivaji started his stint as an editor in ...

'', '' Sringaram''

Vijay Award for Best Art Director The Vijay for Best Art Director is given by STAR Vijay as part of its annual Vijay Awards ceremony for Tamil language, Tamil (Kollywood) films. The list Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won. Nominations *2007 ...

* 2007 – ''

'' * 2008 – ''

Partial filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tharani, Thotta 1949 births Living people Telugu people Indian art directors Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Filmfare Awards South winners Indian production designers Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners 20th-century Indian designers Artists from Chennai 21st-century Indian designers Best Production Design National Film Award winners