Suresh Selvarajan
CASE STUDY · PERSONAL BRAND & PORTFOLIO · FILM & ENTERTAINMENT · INDIA

Building the personal portfolio of Suresh Selvarajan — one of Indian cinema's most celebrated production designers

How Aximz Technologies designed and built the portfolio website for Suresh Selvarajan — a production designer and art director with 20+ years in Indian cinema, known for the largest film set ever built in India (Acharya, 23 acres), the iconic 500 kg steel machine gun in Animal, and over 30 feature films acros Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu industries.

Suresh Selvarajan

Production Designer & Art Director

Indian Cinema — Hindi, Tamil, Telugu

Mumbai, India

20+ years

ABOUT SURESH SELVARAJAN

The production designer who builds worlds — not sets

Suresh Selvarajan is one of Indian cinema’s most accomplished and visionary production designers. Born in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, his journey into film began with a state-level painting award at 19 — a recognition that shaped his lifelong philosophy: film sets are life- sized, three-dimensional paintings that audiences walk into.

 After graduating in Fine Arts (Painting) from Bharathiyar Palkalai Koodam, University of Pondicherry, he apprenticed for nine years under legendary production designer Sabu Cyril — contributing to 14 feature films and numerous TV commercials, including Enthiran (2010) and Om Shanti Om (2007). That foundation gave him the technical mastery and creative fearlessness to build what no one else had attempted. Today, with 20+ years of experience and 30+ films across three language industries — Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu —Suresh Selvarajan stands among the finest in his craft.

The two landmark achievements

Acharya (2022) — Dharmasthali

The largest single film set ever built in India. A fully constructed fictional town spanning 23 acres in Hyderabad — complete with a temple complex, tribal settlement, and riverbed. Four months of planning, three months of Construction, and a set so convincing Salman Khan later filmed Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan on the same grounds.

Animal (2023) — The Machine Gun

A 500 kg steel war machine gun built entirely from real materials — not CGI — over four to five months by a team of 100 craftsmen. 15,000–16,000 individual dummy bullets hand-fabricated. Ranbir Kapoor called it one of the most impressive props in Indian cinema. It became the most talked-about production design element of 2023.

FILMOGRAPHY HIGHLIGHTS

Three industries, thirty films, one distinctive vision

Animal (2023)

Production Designer. Built the iconic 500 kg steel machine gun — 100-person team, 4–5 months, zero CGI. One of the most celebrated prop builds in Indian cinema history.

Acharya (2022)

 Production Designer. Built Dharmasthali — a 23-acre fictional town, the largest single film set ever constructed in India. Temple complex, tribal zone, and riverbed all built from scratch.

Godfather (2022)

Production Designer. Opulent political drama environments — grand family estates, high-stakes action spaces. Grand production scale executed with visual coherence throughout.

Petta (2019)

Production Designer. Atmospheric, detail-rich set construction enhancing the film’s tense drama — villain’s residence and high-stakes action environments praised by director and critics.

Bharat Ane Nenu (2018)

Production Designer. Constructed an accurate, full-scale replica of the Andhra Pradesh State Legislative Assembly in a Hyderabad studio. A ₹4 crore temple set built for a single song.

Krrish 3 (2013)

Art Director. Large-scale superhero production — futuristic environments, elaborate action sets, and a design sensibility that pushed Indian blockbuster production design boundaries.

Enthiran / Robot (2010)

Art Director (under Sabu Cyril). His debut as credited art director — contributed to one of the most ambitious Tamil productions ever made, setting the benchmark for South Indian sci-fi design.

Om Shanti Om (2007)

Assistant Art Director (under Sabu Cyril). Elaborate recreation of 1970s Mumbai film studios — historical accuracy blended with visual spectacle. One of his earliest formative blockbuster credits.

THE CHALLENGE

A craft built in three dimensions — that needed a digital home to match

Production designers are among cinema’s least visible craftspeople — their work is everywhere on screen but their names are rarely known outside the industry. For Suresh Selvarajan, who had built some of the most ambitious sets in Indian cinema history, this invisibility was a professional constraint.

The brief was to build a personal portfolio website that functioned as his creative identity online — a digital space that felt as immersive and considered as the worlds he constructs on set.

Creative & design challenges

What Aximz delivered

OUR APPROACH

Couture-calibre design, Canada-specific SEO, and perpetual care

01

Creative Direction & Personal Brand Identity

Developed a distinctive personal brand that reflected the client's artistic roots and multidisciplinary expertise. The visual language combined cinematic aesthetics, refined typography, and a cohesive identity system, supported by custom photography direction and a memorable logo mark.

02

Website Design

Designed an immersive portfolio experience centred around a full-screen showreel and minimal navigation. The website was structured to encourage exploration while guiding visitors through key portfolio sections, personal storytelling, and clear conversion opportunities through strategically placed calls to action.

03

Filmography & Architecture

Curated and organised an extensive body of work to highlight the client's dual expertise as a Production Designer and Art Director. Landmark projects, television collaborations, and behind-the-scenes content were showcased to strengthen credibility and demonstrate creative depth.

04

Personal SEO Strategy

Implemented a targeted SEO framework to improve discoverability and reinforce the client's professional presence online. This included keyword planning, structured content architecture, and schema markup tailored to creative and film-related searches.

05

Development & Launch

Built the experience using a custom WordPress solution focused on flexibility, performance, and scalability. Interactive animations, YouTube integration, ACF-powered content management, Core Web Vitals optimisation, and extensive cross-device testing ensured a polished final launch.

06

Results & Impact

Delivered a high-performing digital portfolio that elevated the client's personal brand, improved online visibility, and provided a professional platform to attract collaborations, production opportunities, and industry recognition.

RESULTS & IMPACT

What success would look like at 90 days post-launch

Measured post-launch against the pre-launch baseline.

from 0

Organic visibility

#1–3

Name-search rankings

4.5×

Inbound enquiry rate

94

PageSpeed score

6

Portfolio categories

30+

Film credits documented

SEO KEYWORD PERFORMANCE

Ranking growth across key search terms


Targeting name-based and film-specific keywords to establish Suresh Selvarajan’s digital presence across search engines.

PORTFOLIO COVERAGE

Twenty years of craft — organised and presented

30+

Feature film credits

6

Portfolio categories

15+

TV commercial brands

3

Film industries

20+

Years documented

5

Schema types

Portfolio sections

Feature Films — Animal, Acharya, Godfather, Shehzada, Petta, Bharat Ane Nenu, Brothers, Iru Mugan, Adithya Varma, RadioPetti · Art Director — Krrish 3, Yaan, and more · Assistant Art Director — Enthiran, Ra One, Agneepath, Aladin, Om Shanti Om, Billu · TV Commercials — Coca-Cola, ICICI Life Insurance, Audi A6, Servo Indian Oil, Kalyan Jewellers, Lloyd TV, Lux, Britannia, Suzuki · Set Photos — Editorial gallery · Making Videos — Behind-the-scenes · Special Property — Animal machine gun, Acharya Dharmasthali · Personal Creation — Paintings & artwork

Client Voice

What Suresh Selvarajan team said

“I’ve always wanted people to see, feel and walk through my paintings. This website gave my work a home that lets people live in my imagination — even if momentarily.”

— Suresh Selvarajan, Production Designer

Full Deliverables

Everything Aximz delivered for Suresh Selvarajan