Besides the cinematic home theater, music rooms & hi-end audio visual equipment’s becoming a necessity for the increasingly aware young Indians, it is also a place to flaunt for in the households of the neo-rich Indian society. The Region Kathiawad Kathiawar, known as Saurashtra region in Gujarat, is rich in its cultural heritage of folk arts and literature. The folk dances of Kathiawar are Tippani, Raas & Raasda, Athango Raas, Garba & Garbi, Daka & Hoda Raas, Dhamaal Raas. The folk music like Halardu (lullaby), Marasiya (dirge/elegy), the Duha, songs & bhajans are still sung by folk artistes.

The litterateurs like Zaverchand Meghani, Narsinh Mehta, Bhoja Bhagat, Dulabhai Kag, etc. have occupied a prominent place in the world of folk arts and literature. The tales and poems are still enjoyed by people and when presented by folk artists in Lok Dayora (a gathering where people are entertained by folk artists) & narrating the proud heritage of the past, they further instill the values & cultures of a rich cultural past & also inspire the present generation in different ways. Even Bhavais (street plays) are performed telling them the stories of our great epics; today these street plays are performed to educate and also awaken citizens by letting them know about their rights.

The ‘kathiyawadi food’ is also a delight & has Global awareness too. The City Rajkot is the most important city & center of Saurashtra Region. It is the fourth largest city in the western part of the state of Gujarat, India. Rajkot is the 35th largest urban agglomeration in India, with a population more than 1.2 million as of 2015. Rajkot is also the 22nd-fastest-growing city in the world. Rajkot was home for many personalities like Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Rajkot is frequently referred to as "Rangilu Rajkot" (રંગીલુ રાજકોટ) meaning colorful Rajkot since shopkeepers mostly close their business between 1.30 pm to 4.30 pm.

Rajkot is famous for its gold purity and has one of the largest gold markets in India. Besides, is well known throughout the world for its casting and forging industries. Over the last few years, it has started to play an increasingly important role in the complex supply chains of many global engineering companies that make products such as electric motors, automobiles, machine tools, bearings, shafts etc. Rajkot's sister city Morbi is also a manufacturing hub for the ceramics industry, wall clocks industry, and electrical accessories.

It also houses 60 refractories manufacturing fire bricks & its allied products. The Client – so very bollywood ish !!! Three College mates …one topper of the class another passionate & third just a ‘friend’ in its true sense. Well well eventually they get together & dare to pursue their dream & they are able to achieve. Oh so ‘Filmy a plot. But films are the portrayal of the happenings of our lives & so be it …Rohan Shah, the topper of the class loves his subject, inquisitive to decipher the magic of his subject; Ankur Govani, a passionate movie lover, everyday schedule: to watch 3 movies during the whole night dedicatedly every night.

This schedule he followed with regimental precision for all 4 years of engineering. Ankit Vadodariya ‘the friend’, on analyzing the team adopts the third pillar of business & that is marketing. They on completion of their engineering decide to fulfill their dream of providing a superlative cinematic experience to their peers & thereby make them experience the highest level of ecstasy through the art of simulating experiences to communicate ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty or atmosphere with other sensory stimulations.

They after their 14 months of closely working in the industry decide to make their demo room & are on a hunt for a designer for them who would deliver that which is unfathomed, unexplored & as it Paulo Coelho says “that the whole world conspires to make your dream come true”, they find their designer in train trip to Mumbai from Surat. An equally passionate guy who loves his profession & professes design with zeal always waiting to uncover the untrodden path … HAS is a beautiful amalgamation of Technology & aesthetics coming together.

Khusrau Jilla who understands sound & the way it works in the space on looking at the photos of the house of Architect Kalapi Buch said ‘that is what I want’ referring to some pattern in bricks & for Kalapi as said in Gujarati ‘Bhavtu hatu ane vaid ae kahyu’, he immediately exclaimed ‘U will have it Khusrau’. Cinematic Studio Breaking all the idioms of what has been taught in architectural schools that brick can never be used in the making of sound rooms, here is a beautiful place where sound loves to be & travel & their love for each other leaves the viewers in sheer awe.

As said by the young Indian fashion designer Himanshu Shani of 11.11 designs, Delhi who had visited the experience center ‘the sound is living here, it does not die as usually, u see in most of the sound rooms with layers of acoustic proofing’. This walls of demo room have been built by using the locally manufactured in Rajkot’s sister city Morbi the ‘fire bricks’ & no additional acoustic proofing has been done behind or over it. Its soothing color adds to the visual delight. As is said that any theatre is a marriage between speaker & the room, this cinematic studio is supposed to be India’s one of the best demo room having the latest Dolby Atmos installation being heard through system of Netherland-based company manufacturing hi-end loud speakers called Stage Accompany having the tagline ‘that’s how music should sound’.

In fact, this is the world’s first installation of these speakers in home theater segment. The beautiful most part of this sound room is that it is equally good for listening to the music & watching the movie too. Just you need to change your chair of sitting! The ceiling is of deodar wood logs behind which are the acoustic panels & heavy carpet has been laid in flooring. The paradigm shift ‘The grass is always greener on the other side. We are busy applying fairness creams while people in West go bare bodied on the beach to get a tan.

Indian girls have ruled the roost when it comes to beauty pageants. I flaunt my complexion, and I am proud to be noticed as an Indian wherever I go.’ -Shilpa Shetty, Bollywood actress We use various different acoustical materials to achieve the right sound in our modern cinematic rooms following what west has been doing without questioning why are they doing so? On the other hand, since centuries the temples of south India have used the natural material stone in a manner that desired sound quality can be achieved.

Using this understanding an indigenous very local, to our core belief & appropriate to our country & its geographic parameters fire bricks were used to design the cinematic room & the desired sound quality was achieved. We have to decipher, understand, use & be proud of what we possess. After all, we are one of the oldest civilization in existence with a highly developed & testified heritage. Gallery Storyline As designer believes that ‘what is inside be outside’ the wall that was required by Khusrau, the sound consultant inside were constructed & whatever pattern naturally came about became the background for the allied areas.

The resultant organic character was a perfect foreground to develop the allied areas like the ‘gallery storyline’ & ‘living room studio’. Day one the idea was clear that this sound room will be a state art of sound room & will attract clients from all over India it would be imperative for us to orient the clients before actual experience in the demo room, thus came the being of gallery storyline, whereby the visiting clients be seated & be served hot coffee or the kadak mithi kathiyawavdi chai (Tea), one of the best milk tea anywhere in the world.

The complete monolithic Fire Brick space completely transcends the customer into another world and makes him ready to experience the cinematic studio in an uncompromised and exhilarating manner. Besides space, the entrance is a ‘fire brick door’ made out of pieces cut from 100x100x400mm long brick with a hole in between representing a viewing lens or, camera lens. The organic character of the bricks & the texture that the bricks offer on cutting is quite wonderful & unexpected. The ‘rope’ as a handle to open & close it blends beautifully in the organic character of the space & enhances the natural unenforced character of the space.

On opening the door one sees exquisitely laid patterns of bricks glorifying the craftsmen & his art of bricklaying learned through & mastered with time. If you are wondering where the grooves between the two bricks & layers of brick? There should have been pointing too but well these are just placed one over the other. The beautiful innovation & internationalization has made available such construction chemicals to curtail the gaps and also ensured that the adherence is strong and complete. Here a product of Mapei Kerabond-T has been used for brick bonding with cement color additive added into it to make it of the same color as the fire bricks.

The lovely flowing pattern of flooring welcomes a viewer & leaves a viewer in amazement. The 72 funnels hung from the ceiling which the designer fell in love with on his visit to the Firebrick manufacturing unit, which represents a bugle producing sound, here emits light creating various moods in the same space. Sitting a cantilever continuous platform with half cut holes gives a dramatic & international feel to space. To find the door to enter the cinematic studio is a puzzle in itself. Once having deciphered or disclosed the door & its lever, it surely will leave him dazzled & in all admiration for the absolutely fine piece of work done.

Living Room Studio As the name suggest it had to be a perfect setting of a living room of a house having a beautiful outdoor landscaped area & so it be. Made out of pine wood it gives a soothing effect to the eyes having a three seater sofa set which can be lit from within. Wall sharing the cinematic studio is out of brick having pattern that was required by the cinematic studio & opposite it a slant fixed glass overlooking the white pebbled (these pebbles having retrieved from the 600 odd tiling mills present in vicinity of Rajkot) hardscape enclosed by fire brick screen to shun off the chaotic view of the city & providing for an intimate enclosure.

All in all, it’s an inspiration for the city of Rajkot having used the available local materials with a deep sense & understanding of Indian building traditions to create a beautiful ambiance that is intrinsic in value and extremely soothing to the eye. Credits: - Nexus Audio - Sound Consultant - Khusrau Jilla