Inside a Grand Set Build
The ambitious project to recreate the Karachi-adjacent Lyari in Bangkok was not a small undertaking. A team of about 500 workers converged for 20 intense days to transform a city into an immersive world that blurs borders between fiction and reality. The production design, led by Dhurandhar and brought to life by his production designer Saini S Johray, is at the heart of this reversal of geography. The goal was to build a living, breathing neighborhood that feels authentic, even to viewers unfamiliar with Lyari’s distinctive rhythms.
The Creative Brief: From Lyari to Bangkok
As described by Saini S Johray, the crew aimed to capture Lyari’s mood — its alleyways, market stalls, and the everyday hustle — while leveraging Bangkok’s expansive urban landscape. The approach required a nuanced balance: the look and texture of Lyari without losing the visual energy that Bangkok offers as a production hub. The team staged scenes across Bangkok, with additional shooting in Mumbai and Chandigarh to weave in regional flavor and practical challenges such as weather, logistics, and access to diverse locations.
Strategic Scales: Time, Talent, and Terrain
The math behind the build was pragmatic: 500 workers, 20 days, one city, and a story that spans neighborhoods and social edges. The scale demanded tight scheduling, precise carpentry, prop fabrication, and a seamless interplay between set dressing and on-camera performance. Johray notes that the crew faced the dual pressure of delivering realism while keeping the production within budget and schedule. The result is a texture-rich set that lets actors move freely through space while viewers feel transported to Lyari’s unique vantage point.
Cross-City Collaboration
The Bangkok base provided a springboard, but the shoot’s success hinged on cross-city collaboration. Mumbai’s legacy of film craftsmanship supplied elaborate market stalls and crowded public spaces that echo Lyari’s vitality. Chandigarh contributed a controlled environment for important exterior inserts and texture studies. The integration of these locations was carefully mapped to ensure continuity, so that audiences experience a single, cohesive world regardless of where a scene was filmed.
Design Language: Texture, Light, and Story
Lyari’s essence comes through in tactile details: rusted metal signage, weathered bricks, hand-painted murals, and the smell of street food wafting through narrow lanes. The lighting strategy used a mix of natural daylight and practical fixtures to preserve authenticity while ensuring color harmony across cuts. Every prop – from basket stands to charcoal grills – was chosen for its ability to tell a part of the neighborhood’s story without overpowering the narrative. By aligning set pieces with character arcs, the production design anchors emotional beats with physical space.
Challenges and Triumphs
Creating an immersive reality within Bangkok’s urban framework required meticulous permitting, crowd management, and safety protocols, given the scale of the build. The team’s ability to synchronize carpentry, prop fabrication, wardrobe, and VFX pre-planning enabled a faster, more cohesive shoot. The result is a cinematic world where the audience can feel the texture of Lyari while recognizing the dynamic energy of Bangkok’s streets.
What It Means for Viewers
For audiences, the Bangkok-Lyari fusion stands as a testament to modern set design’s power to bend geography without breaking credibility. The collaboration across three cities highlights how production designers like Dhurandhar and Saini S Johray can sculpt a believable, lived-in universe—one that invites viewers to suspend disbelief and follow the story wherever it leads.
