INTERVIEW

In 2005, with the help of just three craftsmen Captain Saurabh Mahajan, a former Army officer, set up a small workshop to make historical artefacts within his house in Dehradun. Initially he started sending chain mails to prospective buyers, but his one meeting with a person called Jenny Tribe, from Australia, changed his life. She placed the first order for$1500. And that’s how Lord of Battles, Mahajan’s firm, took off. Then was no looking back.

After spending four years training in the National Defence Academy and serving seven years in the Army, Mahajan began looking for a new venture. The creative streak and the gene of enterprise in him started surfacing. He wanted to do something worthwhile and to continue, in one way or another, serving his country.

His mind went back to his Army days as he remembered those ceremonial dresses, epaulets and armaments which he had grown up seeing his father, and then himself, wear for years. So, he decided to set up Lord of Battles, which manufactures and exports model ancient weaponry and armour of the medieval era to big theatre groups and film studios around the world.

To create the best products, he and his team started researching sources for raw material and other goods. And eventually his venture received a much- needed boost.

“With 11 years of quality work, we are reputed and well-known in this field. We have supplied innumerable props to many famous production houses and theaters, like Fire & blood Productions Ltd., Pinewood Studios, Toom Production Ltd., TCFFTV UK Productions Ltd., Road’s End Films, Shine TV Ltd., Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare Globe, National Theatre of Nice, IVAN Production, and many more. Our punctuality, quality and honest work attributes spread by word of mouth. Filmmakers get in touch with us through their costume designers. The costume designers send us photos and samples. They even visit us at times to get their samples made,” Mahajan tells Guardian 20.

In early 2011, an American fantasy drama television series created a huge buzz internationally: it’s called Game of Thrones. From its several plot lines to large ensemble cast, Game of Thrones attracted record viewership. As the series is set in the medieval era, ancient weaponry and armour featured in this series is a visual delight. And Lord of Battles was one of the companies that supplied this material to GoT for seasons four and five. Not only this, from there on, Mahajan’s products made their presence felt in Hollywood, as well as in the

Mahajan’s products made their presence felt in Hollywood, as well as in the Russian and French film industries, with films like The Hobbit, Bastard Executioner, Kolovrat, The Treasures of Lake Kaban, and Excalibur among others.