more-in Noted Telugu film director S.S. Rajamouli met Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday and discussed building designs of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and High Court buildings. Known for technical finesse and craft in his films like blockbuster Baahubali, Mr. Rajamouli was asked to give his suggestions to help the government create attractive designs of the buildings. Mr. Naidu wants the designs to be an amalgamation of culture, heritage and ethos as well as modern infrastructure. The film director is said to have agreed to accompany an official team scheduled to visit London in the first week on October to take forward the finalisation of the designs. Apparently impressed by the magnificent settings of the Mahishmati kingdom in Rajamouli’s magnum opus Baahubali, Mr. Naidu decided to utilise his services in building his dream capital of Amaravati, a people’s capital which he thinks should reflect the rich culture of the Telugu land. Sabu Cyril of Kerala was the art director of Baahubali, who created the mammoth settings of the Mahishmati city. Telugu touch London-based Norman Foster + Partners, engaged by the State government, submitted its designs in May. Norman Foster, the founder-chairman of the firm, said valuable inputs were taken from the way cities such as Washington DC, Putrajaya, Astana, London, Brasilia and New Delhi were designed. But Mr. Naidu was not very happy with the designs which looked more like European structures. He is keen that the capital city should reflect the Telugu culture even while blending the best of the international designs. In his last meeting with the film director in Hyderabad two days back, Mr. Naidu sought his valuable inputs in raising a magnificent façade of the Assembly and High Court buildings. “I explained to Mr. Naidu the philosophy behind Mahishmati, the hierarchy of an ancient kingdom that was kept in mind while creating the structures. He said I could replicate the philosophy for Amaravati,” Mr. Rajamouli had said in an earlier interview to a channel. The meetings were held in three phases — a brief one in the morning as Mr. Naidu had to attend the Collectors’ conference, in the afternoon and at 7 p.m. Before the second round of meeting in the afternoon, the film director was taken around the villages of Uddandarayapalem, Lingayapalem and Tallayapalem in Thullur mandal which constitute the core capital region of Amaravati. Mr. Rajamouli also interacted with a few farmers who had parted with their land to facilitate construction of the new capital. Minister for Municipal Administration P. Narayana and CRDA Commissioner Ch. Sridhar werepresent.

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