Hyderabad, May 13 -- Art direction in film and television sets the tone for us as viewers to receive the story. On occasion the sets and props can even become uniquely significant for the narrative. A simple prop that is appropriately utilized, can quickly convey so much information about a character: an oft repeated example of this in American films is Luke Skywalker's light sabre in Star Wars, drawing us immediately into a distant worlds/galaxies. Or Alfred Hitchcock's film Rope, in which the titular rope is a metaphor for life and binds the films narrative tightly.

Nitish Roy speaking of his art direction in Indian films mentions the clock in the film Pukar (with Madhuri Dixit, Anil Kapoor and Namrata Shirodkar). Clocks have been used...