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New Delhi: It would do well for Hollywood stars, including Tom Cruise and Orlando Bloom to know that part of their success in The Last Samurai and Kingdom of Heaven goes to Ashok Rai, the 27-year-old CEO of Syndicate Armoury that manufactured the replicas of helmets, chain mailles, shields and other war paraphernalia for the films.
Since the past eight years, Hollywood producers, museums and exporters from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe have been queuing up at the 12,000 square feet factory in Sahibabad in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, bordering New Delhi for supplies of historical pieces dating back from 1000 AD to the 17th century.
Rai said, "Our antique and inimitable products showcase the age old magical human creativity. And I feel proud that our craftsmen belonging to Bihar and western Uttar Pradesh have a superlative quality in their hands that surpass the modern machines."
Reproductions of the metal regalia of the long dead kings and their buried kingdoms come alive when the artisans work on steel and aluminium plates, hammering them and creating swords, axes, bucklers, armours, helmets, shoes, clothing and other items out of them.
The idea took shape in 1998, when Rai's father, C.R.M. Rai ran the ancestral business of producing handicrafts since the 1950s under the Indian Handicrafts & Textiles Syndicate banner.
He was approached by a French company, CB Diffusion to generate 1000 pieces of 18-inch swords to be gifted to the guests at a party.
Rai, who at that time had completed Class 12 from Happy School, Daryaganj, Delhi, reminiscences, "I did a bit of research and realised there was much more we could do and plunged headlong into the business."
The company started manufacturing handmade metal weapons and in 2001 was approached by the UK-based company Get Dressed for Battle (GTFB) that sold replicas of historical objects.
The design and armoury specialist Martin Bavin, who was well-versed with designing products out of steel and other materials, flew down from London to train Rai's artisans, who till then were novices.
The association with GTFB proved a boon for Syndicate Armoury and soon orders started pouring in from European museums, re-enactment societies and souvenirs collectors.
Rai's factory is known to have supplied about 2,500 pieces of handmade chain mailles, head gears and leggings for the movie Kingdom of Heaven.
"It was one of the few movies that used metal armoury made solely by hand. And we used aluminium since it is a light metal," he said.
While the labour intensive unit in Sahibabad employs 150 artisans, Syndicate Armoury works with an additional 500 workforce, majority of them women, who are directly or indirectly involved in the trade.
He said, "We make a lot of chain mailles that are traditionally handled by women." The company boasts of a monthly production of 2,000 pieces of impeccable quality.
"There are a huge number of re-enactment societies abroad, who use our equipments. In fact, the Battle of Hastings is an annual event that takes place in the UK in which more than 2,000 people participate," Rai said.
There is also a demand from museums including the British Museum and Royal Armouries in Warwick, who have the original swords and arms in glass shelves.
Of late, Rai has been running a unit from Germany called Historical Reproductions GMBH Ltd, a subsidiary of Indian handicrafts & Textiles Syndicate.
"I am keen on entering the Saudi Arabian market by venturing into Persian armaments," he added.
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