Inspired by the silver screen

Think back to the seventies and eighties and the films of the period. Is there any set that stands out for its perfectionism or detail?

Films in the fifties and sixties tended to reflect actual living conditions, so the townhouses had the characteristic Indo-Saracenic architectural and furnishing features that you would actually find in homes "" hat-stands, tallboys, jardinieres "" reflecting the Indo-Anglian way of life.

With few exceptions such as Muzaffar Ali recreating Umrao Jaan's setting in a Lucknow haveli (and which influenced fashion more than it did interiors), there was little thereafter that reflected design realism in cinema. Till the nineties when "" and thank Shah Rukh Khan for much of that "" sets became altogether trendier, the kind of places young men wanted as homes.

In the West, the cinema has always been a huge influence on popular fashion and design, and designers have often taken these trends into their forecasting. In India, however, designers were somewhat influenced by the small screen (The Bold and the Beautiful initially, now Saas and Kahani and Jassi and co). But nobody wanted homes the way they were depicted on the silver screen, because they lacked authenticity.

That changed with one film. Dil Chahta Hai wasn't just a story about friends coming of age, it was a story of upwardly mobile Indians unashamed to be living well, and the sets reflected this confidence (Dimple Kapadia in the film was an interior designer).

But even here, leave aside the Australian interiors, there was little that was exceptional. Nobody went to designers to say, "I want this set from the film as my living room."

Now, however, the deluge: Designers sitting in on client meetings are shown DVDs (pirated) of the latest films, and asked to replicate interiors as they see them in Hindi cinema. Part of this may be emerging from cinema's growing maturity, but at least part has to come from the retro-look that has become trendy, and which is also reflected in films.

One of the greatest hits in recent weeks, Parineeta, exemplifies this trend. The homes in the film are villas that are a hundred years old, complete with beautiful wooden staircases, stained glass windows and authentic teak and mahogany furniture that belongs to the period.

The setting of the stylish sixties gives it a sheen that incorporates it into the lifestyle of the age, and it is as seamlessly that designers are hoping to recreate their interior spaces for the new century tiring of the steel look and minimal features. Club and restaurant owners are demanding a recreation of the Moulin Rouge set (itself, old-times wager, a dead ringer for the real goods on Park Street, Calcutta).

But if Parineeta is a bit of the Raj in Indian India, Paheli has turned the tables with a revival of ethnic India that was already fashionable a few decades ago.

However, the look is rich instead of rural, and home owners are demanding authenticity. Certainly, it will see the revival of rich colours as well as paintings and other interior embellishments that, moan several designers, will give spaces a dated look.

Bunti Aur Babli is also feeding this frenzy with its characteristic flamboyance, though it doesn't have any single, special look that characterises a trend.

However, not everyone's falling for the retro look, and those demanding more current interiors are sitting through the films as eagerly as critics wait for rushes. As for designers, if you want to cash in on your clients, make sure you have a reservation for the new releases "" first day, first show.