Bigg Boss OTT 2: The entire house is majorly made up of SCRAP materials, says Omung Kumar| EXCLUSIVE

The art director cum filmmaker was in an exclusive interview with OTTplay

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After having worked as an Art director for many films like ‘Dil Hai Tumhara’, ‘Ishq Vishk’, ‘Pyaar Ke Side Effects’, and many others, Omung Kumar stepped into the world of direction with the extremely well crafted and highly appreciated ‘Mary Kom’, a film that became one of Priyanka Chopra’s career-defining films. As they say, then, there was no looking back for Omung Kumar, who went onto do other films as a director. These films include the Aishwarya Rai Bachchan starrer ‘Sarbjit’, Vivek Oberoi starrer ‘PM Narendra Modi’ and others. Amidst all this, Omung Kumar just did not let the prolific Art Director in him take a backseat. Testimony to this is in the form of the visually stunning sets of ‘Bigg Boss’, a show with which he has been associated for many years now. Now, with the advent of ‘Bigg Boss OTT’, which is in its second season, Omung Kumar is busier than ever.

OTTplay met up with the extremely talented Omung Kumar for an exclusive interview on the occasion of the grand launch of Bigg Boss OTT 2, which is steaming on JioCinema.

Omung… you have been associated with ‘Bigg Boss’ for many years now. In what way do you feel you have evolved with the show and vice versa?
Since we have been doing the show every year, the challenge is always to outdo ourselves. People have grown with us watching the show. The fact is that, these people are also very inspired. Last few years, they have seen the theme as jungle, circus etc… Basically, one has to upgrade oneself. One needs to consider their plus points and should be aware of what looks good on camera and stuff like that. The show has been designed in such a way that we ourselves have evolved with better learning. With OTT, we are catering to a young generation.

With so many formats and versions of ‘Bigg Boss’ on your plate, don't you feel the utmost pressure to deliver all the time?
There is no pressure as such. Unlike last year, where the ‘Bigg Boss OTT 2’ was attached to the main house, this year for ‘Bigg Boss OTT 2’, we had to brainstorm whether we would gain the attention of the young crowd as we are catering to them and how to change the youngster’s minds, through which we wanted to create an impact. That’s why we thought of the environment as a topic. That’s why I thought of letting my set talk. That explains the reason as to why the entire set is full of recycled stuff, which also happens to be this year’s theme.

Can you please describe the Bigg Boss OTT 2 house this season/ year?
Basically, the Bigg Boss OTT 2 house is made of only scrap materials. And the moment you come in, there is a big entrance patched mud wall. In that, we have put green and blue bottles that are thrown off. There are, in all, more than hundreds and thousands of bottles in the wall which is very nicely lit up. In the night, it becomes an art piece. The moment you come inside the house, every set which was dismantled earlier, we have gathered the wooden latches for everything instead of throwing them away. We have reused it and made a huge ceiling out of it. I have painted it red and have put the lamps inside so that becomes the highlight like a beautiful art piece.

Sounds interesting. Please continue…
The USP of the house is basically the entrance to the main house, which we've done it up to 60 feet to 65 feet. It’s a big huge eyeball and is made up of purely plastic bottles. We've gotten a clean, great and beautiful installation of an eye with the caps on it. In the night, it goes green, blue, yellow. That looks so pretty. That is one huge feature that we have. On the left side, we made a jail with the help of all car parts! There are springs and bonnets, which make up for the jail bars. The pathway lamp is basically made up of all the headlights that are broken! We have dug it up and put lights on it so that it becomes the pathway lamp on the floor itself. On the right side, we have a huge wall made of only paper cups. Nicely clear red, blue, yellow, and a full installation on the wall.

One could see a huge table in the house. Any story behind its creation?
Yes… the really huge table outside are made up of paper cups. That’s definitely going to be a highlight of the house. The house itself is called the strange house. You know everything is strange over here. The dining area is very special. We went to the clothes market and picked up the worn-out jeans. We cut them up and stitched them together and made them into an upholstery that is so beautiful.

Why do you call it as a ‘Strange House’?
I call it so because it is made out of recycled scrap material, from plastic and glass bottles, to clothes pegs, to plastic cups, car spare parts, springs, old torn jeans, to scrapped wooden junk pieces, to toilet seats, to old torn tyres, to bathroom soaps to dustbins, to egg crates, to kitchen fork spoons and craters, to unused 1000 bulbs, to bottle caps, match boxes, to jacuzzi which is not used, to marbles etc... All used to create this colourful young house, sustainability to next level.

And what about the washrooms?
Yes… the moment you go into the bathroom, you will find that it is made up of stuff belonging to the bathroom itself. One whole wall is just made of soap dish. Another wall is just of seat covers; toilet seat covers with a full wall of it. There’s one wall that’s made of paper rolls and similar things.

Okay, so since you are the ‘Sultan’ of the art department, and Salman Khan is the ‘Sultan’ of acting, how come we have not seen you both full time coming together for a Bollywood feature film?
Just waiting for the right script.

A few seasons ago, you had made a decision about saying no to plastic, and any of the do's and don'ts that you're following right now with this year.
In fact, this time, we are using the plastic which the people had thrown away.

It’s so ironic that, even though the contestants of Bigg Boss enter ‘The Big Boss House’ through one door, it has always opened up many doors to them once they step out of the house. Ditto the case with you?
Basically it's a ‘stamp’ that I always wanted with me.

How many themes do you generally come up with while presenting to the makers of Bigg Boss?
Just one. That’s all.

Who takes the final call?
It’s a joint decision.

You have proved yourself as a super- successful host in ‘Ek Minute’. Did the thought of hosting Bigg Boss ever cross your mind?
Hota toh hai… There is Salman Khan who is doing a great job. But, hosting OTT I had never thought of. But now that you have told me about it… I will surely think about it.

On the other side of your professional front, what’s the status of ‘The Good Maharaja’ and ‘Yubi Lakpi’?
Both, ‘The Good Maharaja’ and ‘Yubi Lakpi’…. One needs to wait. I am focussing right now on ‘Fauda’ and ‘Ramlali’

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