A N I L M E H T A - Kodak

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16 Less is More K. Dattu tells Manju Latha Kalanidhi about his passion and obsession for the camera. He could have been a dialogue writer. He packs a punch in every sentence. He could have been a lyricist. Alliterations, allegories and metaphors dot his words. He could have been a scriptwriter as he narrates every experience like a storyteller. But K. Dattu chose to be a cinematographer and after over two decades in the profession, he is convinced that nothing turns him on more than the camera. What’s your current venture about? Samardhudu is a love story with f a m i l y d r a m a . We h a v e youngsters like Raja and Sanjana taking on veterans such as Krishnamraju. Samardhudu means ‘competent’ and it is about a go-getting Legislator (played by Krishnamraju) who is ready to stake his life for the people but is facing a threat from a local criminal (played by Raja). In my experience, it is tougher to work for a regular commercial movie than for a different, off-beat movie. In the former, one has to use the available, regular elements to infuse new life, but in an offbeat movie, you have all the freedom to experiment. In Samardhudu, I used fewer lights and filters to bring out the realism and conflict between the characters. W h e t h e r i n l i f e o r cinematography, I believe ‘less is more’. Many may find it strange but I always work at reducing external sources to light up my characters. At times, I have had a few tiffs with my directors about this, but eventually they give in. “A DOP is like a vehicle who runs on four wheels – director, art director, make-up artiste and costume stylist – to win the race.” What stocks did you use for Samardhudu? I have used 5219 (Vision 3 500 T) and 5218 (Vision 2 500 T). Tell us about your entry into the field and your journey so far. I am K. Dattatreya Varaprasad and I hail from Mogalturu in West Godavari district. Way back in 1980s, I was a hot- headed youth who had just finished his graduation in science and was on the verge of creating a nuisance at home– loafing around, late nights, wasting money, etc. Luckily, it was megastar Chiranjeevi who brought me to Hyderabad and placed me as an assistant to cinematographer K.S. Hari. The star and I share three things: we hail from the same village, share t h e s a m e s e c o n d n a m e (Varaprasad) and passion for movies. Chiranjeevi was a family friend and on the behest of my dad, he asked me if I was ready to make a career for myself in movies. I nodded my head and started working with Hari. I worked with several big names such as Lok Singh, Kabir Lal, Vincent and Teja before I started working solo. Interestingly, I w o r k e d f o r a c h u n k o f Chiranjeevi’s biggest hits during the eighties. Hits like Gang Leader, Vijeta, Gharana Mogudu, even his Hindi debut Pratibandh had me behind the camera team. My first solo was with Paatabasti in 1996. I had also d o n e o n e m o v i e i n Hindi–Muskaan with Aftab Shivdasani and Gracy Singh. I had the privilege to work for Chiranjeevi’s best movies like Samardhudu Samardhudu Rikshavodu, Hitler, Bavagaru Bagunnara, Sneham Kosam and Shankardada MBBS. Does a Director of Photography enjoy freedom in the Telugu industry? Cinematography is not about f r e e d o m , i t i s a b o u t responsibility. A DOP is like a vehicle who runs on four wheels director, art director, make-up artiste and costume stylist to win the race. He translates the work of everybody behind the camera onto the camera to produce the final vision. So, my work depends on teamwork. We are painters of light and we are totally dependent on our entire team, not just the assistant or the boy who helps me with the camera, but everybody else involved in creating the visual, including the girl who puts the b l u s h e r o n t h e h e r o i n e . However, there are times when the director believes that you can get the desired effect only when you mount extravagant s e t s a n d u s e t h e m o s t sophisticated camera. I have “Cinematography is not about freedom, it is about responsibility.” had tiffs with some young directors who would want it their way even though the scene did not require it. Why do you need a rifle to prick a balloon when you can do it with a pin? I a l s o b e l i e v e t h a t a s t e c h n i c i a n s , i t i s o u r responsibility to ensure that the movie works within the budget. I have seen several producers hit the dust primarily because the technicians from the set designer to the make-up artiste overshooting the budget and Samardhudu Samardhudu Shankardada MBBS “I want to work as a cinematographer with the basic cameras and lens and zero external light sources.” Samardhudu Samardhudu “Less is more truly holds good in many aspects of filmmaking. ” landing him in trouble. There are times when the budget for a set is about 10 lakhs but the art director lays out a set for 16 l a k h s a n d c o n v i n c e s t h e producer that he should not compromise on anything. Each of them work on their own lines and even if the movie is a hit, the producer would find it hard to recover his money. I think everybody who works for a movie must feel responsible about these things. Less is more truly holds good in many aspects of filmmaking. 17
18 You have worked in Telugu, Kannada, Hindi and even in Hollywood. What has each of the industries taught you? I have worked for just one movie in Hollywood for a Chiranjeevi- starrer (Thief of Baghdad) that g o t s h e l v e d m i d w a y. I n Hollywood, they discover new techniques to create a scene. Here, we create scenes to adapt a technique. There are times when the technique dominates the scene and that is among the first things you should never do in a movie. The book The Cinematographer, which is like a Bible for us in this craft, tells you what to do with the camera. Working in the industry tells you what not to do. A good cinematographer learns his lessons both from theory and practice. I think the Telugu industry can do with a film institute. I am surprised that despite being such a flourishing industry, there is no film institute in Hyderabad. The industry should invest in training good professionals who produce good work. I have also realized that Hollywood is about 10 years ahead of us in technique. We need to catch up to be the best soon. Many cinematographers are embarrassed about the dark greens, blues and reds in the film but there is no need to feel that way. We need to give emphasis on some colours for some movies that are made for the B and C centers. These centers have movie screens that are more than a decade old and do not reproduce subtle colours well. So a movie made for B and C centers may look gaudy on the multiplex screen but we also need to keep the screen quality of a majority of the theatres in the state. It is essential to keep these considerations in mind rather than just trying to come o u t w i t h e l e g a n t a n d sophisticated products which may not go down well with the majority. Can you tell us about any movie or scene that you excelled in as a cinematographer? I personally loved Bavagaru Bavunnara by Chiranjeevi. It was a remake of the Hollywood movie Walk In The Clouds. I love to cash in on nature’s beauty for my movies. Selecting the right location is half the battle won. When you get this right, you can go easy on the other elements. I shot almost half of the movie Bavagaru Bagunnara in New Zealand using simple thermocol filters and nothing else. I used the brown mountains, white buildings and blue lakes as my background for the best scenes. We could do it without much lighting. “Black is the yardstick to gauge a roll’s efficiency. If black is reproduced well, the rest of it falls in place. Kodak produces black brilliantly, faithfully.” What are your experiences with Kodak film? Black is the yardstick to gauge a roll’s efficiency. If black is reproduced well, the rest of it falls in place. Kodak produces black brilliantly, faithfully. Unlike other films which make green dominate the film, it brings out every colour just the way it should. When I load my camera with Kodak, I can simply focus on the other issues as I know it will do its job well. W h a t i s y o u r g o a l a s a cinematographer? I do a lot of research about moviemaking. I love to spend time talking to producers, f i l m m a k e r s , f i n a n c e r s , distributors about the craft. It costs Rs 280 per minute for an average Telugu movie with a budget of around Rs 3 crores. My aim is to reduce the costs significantly so that even small directors and producers with good stories can dream of making movies. I want to work as a cinematographer with the basic cameras and lens and zero external light sources. Shankardada MBBS How did you get interested in cinematography? My mother was an artist, a painter. So right from the time I was a young boy I was influenced by her artistic work. She always encouraged me to draw and paint and would give me directions in achieving the right effects. I used to stay closer to the main city area and so right from childhood I was exposed to the visual art and history. I used to visit the art galleries with my mother. Since my mothers genes were invested in me I was also very good at painting. My childhood memories largely constituted art and imagery, which later on became a talent and skill that I could explore through cinematography. Was that a very trying period in your life? I had a tough time in college. I had joined for B.Com and I had no aptitude for it. As a result I felt totally lost and isolated. Did the exposure to art continue through college? We shifted to Pune pretty early on in my life and I continued my education in art as well in formal academics. I did very well in both but I was never really sure of my talent and did not know how it would give me an advantage, so I opted to continue my formal education despite fulfilling all the criteria necessary for art school. My parents never forced me either way. They just wanted me to do well in life and be happy. My father was an engineer. In fact when my father had an opportunity to go to the US, he got me a camera and a book on architecture, he was obviously hoping that I would chose either as a sincere pursuit. But my parents and I too felt that at that point a degree was important and in that process I couldn’t really go back to art school. Then art school was after the tenth standard and Art it was a diploma then. It wasn’t like it is today. Today whether degree or diploma your inherent talent accounts for much more. of the Matter Amalendu Chowdhury has been a DOP for several successful and critically appreciated Marathi films. He started without any formal training and learnt his craft on the job, helped along by his childhood exposure to art. “I don’t believe in style for the sake of a style. For me my approach to cinema is to tell a story and everything that a cinematographer does should concentrate on telling the story to the best possible effect.” Amalendu Chowdhury talks to Johnson Thomas about his career and technique. So did your photography continue during this period? That was my only creative outlet and I shot some excellent stills which everyone appreciated. One of my acquaintances complimented me and said that I could make it as a professional photographer. I started taking on freelance assignments for magazines and did a lot of advertising shoots too. And I was doing pretty well for myself financially. I even won an award, the National Sports Trust Award, sponsored by Kodak. What about cinematography? Pune had a very good festival of International classics going on at the Film and Television Institute, and since one of my friends was the organizer I used to go to watch the films there. All the films were projected, they were not the DVD variety. And there used to be discussions with directors and technicians. Paresh Mokashi was one such director there; his talk on the film Escape to Victory inspired me into trying out cinematography. I felt it was a very challenging field. I was always interested in visuals and this seemed to be the right profession to be in. I had to go to Mumbai and try my hand there as Pune FTII wouldn’t take commerce graduates. So did you start from scratch without any formal training? No I did not have any formal training. I had seen Ijazat and Bandit Queen, both shot by Ashok Mehta and I had got in touch with him. I spoke to him about my interest in the field. I had also read his story and realized that my dream was achievable if I put in a good deal of effort. I was married at that time, 23 years old and had the support of my wife to come here and try to get a foothold in the film industry. Ashok Mehta gave me the opportunity to apprentice under him when I was 29 years old and I assisted him in Moksh and Gaja Gamini and several ad films. I learnt everything about cinematography under his tutelage. He was my teacher and my guru. Jhing chick jhing 19
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A N I L M E H T A - Kodak

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