Our Inspiration

Ram Yedekar - The Art Director Who Inspired Darshan Productions

Ram Yedekar - popularly known as Ram Dada - was one of the finest Art Directors of his era, working across both Indian and international cinema. From Gandhi, Guide, Sholay to Dostana, A Passage to India, and Octopussy, his work shaped some of the most iconic visual worlds in film history. The dream of Darshan Productions was born from his legacy.

The Journey

From India's Film Studios to Hollywood - The Career of Ram Yedekar

Ram Yedekar began his career in the early 1960s and quickly became the art director of choice for the finest filmmakers in world cinema. Over four decades he collaborated with legendary directors such as Raj Khosla, Ramesh Sippy, Vijay Anand, Yash Johar, nationally and Sir Richard Attenborough, James Ivory, David Lean, Ismail Merchant internationally - designing the look of films that are considered as movie classics.

His genius was recognised internationally early.Starting with Nine Hours to Rama and Maya in the early 1960s - he went on to work on almost all major international productions shot in India. In 1963, during his time he won the Filmfare Best Art Director Award for Son of India. In 1976, the Bengal Film Journalists’ Association recognised his work on Sholay with another Best Art Director award - cementing his place as the leading production designer of his generation.

Masterpieces

Iconic Works

Sholay (1975)

For art directors, Sholay remains the benchmark. Director Ramesh Sippy and Ram Yedekar made a deliberate choice to avoid Rajasthan and search for new locales in South India. Ram Dada led the team to Ramanagara, near Bengaluru, where he built the entire village of Ramgarh in the middle of boulders and open scrub. The build took nearly a year. In an era before CGI, the lived-in realism of Ramgarh remains his most studied achievement and an Indian production-design landmark.

Award badge: Best Art Director • BFJA, 1976

Gandhi (1982)

Eight Oscars, One Bollywood Tradition Body: Richard Attenborough's Gandhi won eight Academy Awards at the 55th Oscars in 1983, including Best Art Direction. Ram Yedekar served on the art department under Stuart Craig - the late Oscar-winning production designer who later designed all eight Harry Potter films. Accepting his Oscar, Craig publicly thanked Ram by name, later saying: “Ram Yedekar was straight from the Bollywood tradition, but he was the most terrific man for us."

Award badge: Academy Award (team) • Best Art Direction, 1983

Guide (1965)

A Visual Adaptation of R. K. Narayan Body: Guide is the 1965 romantic drama directed by Vijay Anand, based on R. K. Narayan’s novel The Guide, starring Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman. The film became both a box-office and critical landmark - Time magazine later ranked it Number Four among the greatest Bollywood classics - and S. D. Burman’s score, paired with Ram Yedekar’s evocative sets, remains one of the most celebrated marriages of music and design in Hindi cinema.

Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971)

The Original Dacoit Drama: Directed by Raj Khosla with art direction by Ram Yedekar, Mera Gaon Mera Desh paired Dharmendra with Vinod Khanna's now-iconic villain. The film was a major box-office success and is widely regarded as the direct stylistic ancestor of Sholay - which Yedekar would design four years later.

The Legacy

The Person Behind the Frame

Despite working with the most celebrated directors of his time, Ram Yedekar remained a quiet, humble man - known to everyone on every set simply as Ram Dada or Ram Uncle. He collected fables and folk stories from around the world. He read widely about ancient cultures and Indian philosophy. He held himself to the standard of every craftsman before him. His mantra was simple: “Dream big, and be ready to work hard for your dreams.” He passed away on 24 July 2000.

The Vision Continues

Darshan Productions - A Promise Kept

Ram Yedekar was the father-in-law of Shrikant Desai, MD of the Darshan Group. The two were less in-laws and more father and son. Dada would often regale Shrikant with anecdotes from his sets - from Sholay’s Ramgarh to Gandhi’s Oscar night - and the two promised they would one day produce films together. In 2017, Shrikant founded Darshan Productions in Belagavi as a tribute. Every frame we produce carries Ram Dada’s leading blessing.

Explore Our Films

Curated Lists

Notable Works & Collections

D : Director   •   A : Actor

Nine Hours to Rama (1963)

D : Mark Robson

A : Horst Buchholz, Jose Ferrer, Valerie Gearon

Nine Hours to Rama

The Guide (1965)

D : Vijay Anand

A : Dev Anand, Waheeda Rehman (India & USA release)

The Guide

Maya (1966)

D : John Berry

A : Jay North, Sajid Khan, Clint Walker

Maya

Maya (TV Series 1967-68)

D : American TV

A : Jay North, Sajid Khan, Sudesh Issar

Maya TV

Kenner (1968-69)

D : Steve Sekely

A : Jim Brown, Madlyn Rhue, Ricky Cordell, Robert Coote

Kenner

Gandhi (1982)

D : Richard Attenborough

A : Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, Edward Fox, John Gielgud

Gandhi

Heat & Dust (1983)

D : James Ivory

A : Greta Scacchi, Shashi Kapoor, Julie Christie, Zakir Hussain

Heat & Dust

Octopussy (1983)

D : John Glen (James Bond)

A : Roger Moore, Maud Adams, Kabir Bedi, Louis Jourdan

Octopussy

A Passage to India (1984)

D : David Lean

A : Peggy Ashcroft, Judy Davis, James Fox, Alec Guinness

A Passage to India

The Perfect Murder (1988)

D : Zafar Hai

A : Stellan Skarsgård, Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak

The Perfect Murder

The Deceivers (1988)

D : Nicholas Meyer

A : Pierce Brosnan, Shashi Kapoor, Saeed Jaffrey

The Deceivers

Manika, Une Vie Plus Tard (1989)

D : François Villiers

A : Ayesha Dharker, Julian Sands, Stéphane Audran

Manika

The Peacock Spring (1996)

D : Christopher Morahan

A : Hattie Morahan, Laura Barneby, Linsey Spurrier

Peacock Spring

Bombay Boys (1998)

D : Kaizad Gustad

A : Naveen Andrews, Rahul Bose, Naseeruddin Shah

Bombay Boys

Yeh Raastey Hain Pyar Ke (1963)

D : R.K. Nayyar

A : Sunil Dutt, Leela Naidu, Ashok Kumar

Yeh Raastey

Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971)

D : Raj Khosla

A : Dharmendra, Asha Parekh, Vinod Khanna

Mera Gaon

Raaste Kaa Patthar (1972)

D : Mukkul Dutt

A : Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha, Prem Chopra

Raaste Kaa Patthar

Kuchhe Dhaage (1973)

D : Raj Khosla

A : Vinod Khanna, Moushumi Chatterjee, Kabir Bedi

Kuchhe Dhaage

Manchali (1973)

D : Raja Nawathe

A : Sanjeev Kumar, Leena Chandavarkar

Manchali

Prem Kahani (1975)

D : Raj Khosla

A : Shashi Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna, Mumtaz

Prem Kahani

Sholay (1975)

D : Ramesh Sippy

A : Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Sanjeev Kumar

Sholay

Kabela (1976)

D : B.R. Ishara

A : Feroz Khan, Rekha

Kabela

Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki (1978)

D : Raj Khosla

A : Nutan, Vinod Khanna, Asha Parekh

Main Tulsi

Shagun (1964)

D : Nazir

A : Waheeda Rehman, Kamaljeet

Shagun

Shalimar (1978)

D : Krishna Shah

A : Dharmendra, Zeenat Aman, Rex Harrison

Shalimar

Do Premee (1980)

D : Raj Khosla

A : Rishi Kapoor, Moushumi Chatterjee, Om Prakash

Do Premee

Dostana (1980)

D : Raj Khosla

A : Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman, Shatrughan Sinha

Dostana

Katha (1983)

D : Sai Paranjpye

A : Naseeruddin Shah, Farooq Shaikh, Deepti Naval

Katha

Salma (1985)

D : Ramanand Sagar

A : Raj Babbar, Salma Agha, Farooq Shaikh

Salma

Naqaab (1989)

D : Raj Khosla

A : Rishi Kapoor, Farha Naaz

Naqaab

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: Who was Ram Yedekar?

Ram Yedekar - known as Ram Dada - was one of India’s most celebrated art directors, working from the early 1960s until his death in 2000. He designed sets for Sholay, Guide, Gandhi, A Passage to India, Octopussy, and many other landmark films.

Q2: Which awards did Ram Yedekar win?

Ram Yedekar - won the Filmfare Best Art Director Award in 1963 for Son of India, and the Bengal Film Journalists’ Association Best Art Director Award in 1976 for Sholay. He was also part of the Oscar-winning art department of Gandhi (1983).

Q3: What is Ram Yedekar’s connection to Darshan Productions?

Ram Yedekar was the father-in-law of Shrikant Desai, founder of Darshan Productions. After Ram Dada’s death in 2000, Shrikant established the Belagavi-based film production house in 2017 as a tribute to his vision and craft.