December appears to be full of vampires and fright for Ayushmann Khurrana and Rashmika Mandanna. The actors, who are teaming up for the first time in Thama, began shooting for the vampire comedy last week. Sources tell us that director Aditya Sarpotdar called action on the project on December 12 at Chitra Studios in Powai.

Thama, which marks the next chapter in producer Dinesh Vijan’s horror comedy universe, plays out against two backdrops—present-day Delhi, and the Vijayanagara Empire of the past. While the project was to roll in October, it got delayed.

“Ayushmann, Rashmika and Paresh Rawal began with a night schedule on December 12. At Chitra Studio, a set depicting the Delhi home of Paresh’s character has been built by production designers Subrata Chakraborty and Amit Ray. The trio shot their introductory scenes against this setting. They will film at this location till December 23, after which they will take a New Year’s break,” reveals a source.

The unit will regroup in Delhi in January for a start-to-finish schedule. “After a month-long leg in the capital, the unit will move to Ooty in February, when Nawazuddin Siddiqui will join them. Aditya has lined up long shoots in the forests of Ooty, as Nawazuddin’s character is shown to reside in the jungle. The actor, who plays the antagonist, has been given a distinct look by costume designer Sheetal Sharma,” adds the source.

The biggest challenge of making a period drama is recreating the era it is set in. The makers of Prithviraj faced the same hurdle as they set out to offer a retelling of the 12th century warrior king. With the Akshay Kumar-starrer depicting Prithviraj’s reign as he first ruled out of Ajmer and subsequently Delhi, and his love story with Princess Sanyogita of Kannauj, the production design team had to build lavish sets replicating the three cities.

Art designers Subrata Chakraborty and Amit Ray researched the architectural style of the period before erecting elaborate sets in Madh Island, Dahisar and YRF Studios in Andheri.

It is heard that producer Aditya Chopra assigned a budget of over Rs 25 crore for set design. Director Chandraprakash Dwivedi is satisfied with the result.

“Aditya Chopra took on the Herculean task to recreate Delhi, Ajmer and Kannauj. Real marble was used to build the cities, and 900 workers toiled hard for about eight months to build these gigantic sets,” he says. Kumar adds, “It was a task to make this film a visual delight for the audiences. We wanted people to see how magnificent the cities looked during [his reign].”