After designing for the discerning, Kolkata boy Sabyasachi Mukherjee pays tribute to world cinema by designing for Cinema Suite at 51 Buckingham Gate. The suite, which is inspired by 1940s and 1950s Hollywood as well as Indian films of the 50s, marks the 100 years of Indian cinema in 2013.
The quiet designer, who is busy doing the rumoured “18 saris” for Vidya Balan’s wedding refuses to reveal any details about her wedding attire, but opens up about the project and tells us that it is an extension of what he loves to do — design.
“I had stayed at the hotel during my travels to London for the Sotheby’s exhibition. The general manager of the hotel was well-versed about my body of work. He knew I was doing interesting interior work within my own stores and also had a foothold in Bollywood. So he approached me to design the cinema suite. Interiors excite me and cinema is something which is very close to my heart. In fact the project further strengthened my relationship with cinema. For the suite we picked up the world’s most loved and influential films,” he says.
Sabya worked on the project for five months and he did about seven trips to London where he was involved with everything from painting to plumbing. Was it taxing?
He says, “It was taxing but very exciting at the same time. Everything was hand-picked from the top-most departmental stores and the most prestigious antique shops to the smallest flea market hole in the wall. We sourced from Turkey, Afghanistan, Morocco, Paris, Britain and various parts of India.”
Sabya divulges that since the hotel is in London, he did not want it to be an Indian shrine because people travel to London to experience London. So the suite is eclectically British with accents of global culture and a remarkably large dose of India.