Gone are those days, when studios were erected for a shoot. The likes of Avvaiyar, Chandralekha, Veerapandiya Kattabomman and Ayirathil Oruvan are pointers to it. Quite a number of studios were closed in the last few decades, since directors started stepping out of them. Amazingly, in the recent past, a few dream merchants have now started going back to grand sets for their films.

Actor Vijay's latest Thirumalai had in it the Pudupet area in Chennai, with all those mechanic sheds re-created at a huge cost. In Dhool,producer A M Rathinam went ahead with a grandoise set on Anna Salai. At present, R Madhesh, a one-time associate of director Shankar who had worked with him in movies including Gentleman, Kadhalan and Indian and produced Mudhalvan, has begun his next movie Madhura that he is producing and directing. It has Vijay in the lead role. The Speciality about the movie is that the props have been put up on an area of 110 grounds. Creating a huge market city, the set houses theatres, a couple of churches, a big temple, a small residential colony and residential bungalows. What is striking are the beautiful roads laid in the colony with a mix of sand, tar and crude oil. The set appears like the real thing. Speaking about the set, director Madhesh says,'thanks to art director Rajeevan's labor, my dreams have been turned into reality. It took 280 men to work round- the- clock to come up with such a sprawling market city in 24 days. The set itself plays an important role in the movie.

Replica of residential bungalows 'I had been to Madurai, Tirunelveli and the old Kothaval Chavadi in Chennai and watched the market areas keenly to come up with this grand set', Madhesh says adding 'I am happy that I could recreate a well- planned city in this area'.

'Madhura will have all the ingredients of a commercial entertainer. I have been working on its script for over a year now. Vijay will don the happy- go- lucky youngster's role in the movie with Sonia Agarwal and Dum fame Rakshitha acting opposite him', Madhesh says.

The director, who produced Chocklet, says that being a producer too gives him enough freedom to put up huge sets. The movie is to be shot in Madurai also and a few adjoining areas, while song sequences will be shot abroad.

Vadivelu, Tejashree, Seetha, Raj Kapoor and Illavarasu are also in the cast. Vidyasagar will be scoring the music and cinematography by S Saravanan and stunts by Kanal Kannan.