India, Nov. 6 -- Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana is the most expensive Indian film ever made, with a reported budget of Rs.1600 crore for Part One. Much of the budget has been spent on creating the extraordinary visuals through VFX and CGI. But a large part of it also went into the grand production design. In a recent interview, the film's art director revealed that, contrary to popular belief, grand items like Ravana's throne, the flying Pushpak Vimana, and even Surpanakha's chariot were all real models, painstakingly built at great cost.

One of the most prominent sequences in Ramayana is when Ravana conquers Lanka and takes over the rule from Kuber. A scene shows the newly anointed king creating a throne of gold and sitting on it as he looks ...