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MUMBAI
open his eyes. I saw the situation, and decided
to soften the exposure that was disturbing him.
I brought in a lot of thermocol, with which I
bounced the strong hard light coming from
the reflectors, and then did my shooting. This
was, you can say, a learning experience for all
cinematographers,” says Kumar.
According to Kumar, the basic difference
between Hindi and Bhojpuri movies is the
budgets they operate on. A Hindi film gets a
huge budget, amounting to crores of rupees.
But for those working in the Bhojpuri cinema
budget is a big constraint. They have to work
within limited budgets. Naturally the timeframe
within which they have to complete
their work is also very limited. “In an average
Hindi movie the cinematographer can afford
to take just two to three scenes in the wide
time-span of an entire day,” he says. “But
when you come to Bhojpuri films, we have
to, or rather are compelled to film six to eight
scenes within a day,” he says. “Naturally for
lighting also, this situation is applicable. I
simply cannot afford to sit back and plan my
lighting at my own leisure. I know time is
running out and so is the producer’s money.
I have to be fast and take quick decisions and
plan my lighting in such a way that time is not
wasted,” adds Kumar.
Another important feature of Bhojpuri cinema,
according to Kumar, is that the release dates are
fixed. So the cinematographers have to keep
that in mind. “I must finish my entire shooting
within the stipulated period so that the film gets
released in time,” he says.
Kumar feels that planning his camera-angles,
lenses, lighting really depends on the story. The
kind of scenes they want to visualise, what the
situation is like, whether it is a serious or a light
one, all govern his subsequent plan of lighting,
creation of a particular mood by use of lighting,
choice of the lenses and so on. “My use of light
and shade to create a mood would also depend
on the kind of material I am going to shoot with,
what the results should look like and what we
are aiming to create on screen.”
Kumar works for Gujarati cinema as well.
As a place Gujarat has the most interesting
landscapes, with a combination of planes, rivers
such as Sabarmati, or even a hilly location such
as Mount Abu. Kumar first conducts a thorough
recee by visiting the location and then commits
what he wants to do or how he could use the
location best.
The most challenging assignment in his life
to date was during the shoot of the climax
scene of the film Marathi film Kawadse. “We
were shooting inside a room where there was
practically no light, except a small lamp. The
heroine and her daughter were just visible with
the little light that was there which the lamp
could give out. This became the source even
for the heroine to cut her vegetables. The shot
also included the hero who was sitting close
to the window of the room. Apart from these
three characters we also had an old man who
was washing his hands in the wash-basin. The
director decided to take a wide shot using all
these characters and details, with only the little
lamp as the single light source. Initially I was
a bit apprehensive but I finally decided to go
on with the shot using Kodak 500T stock and
a 200 watt bulb as my only additional light. But
since I was using Kodak stock, the shot came
out very well,” he concludes. One of Kumar’s
preferred shots to create a visual effect is a really
low angle shot.
His current projects include Bhail Tohra Se Pyar
and Kaali Pandey in Bhojpuri.
“Kodak offers maximum range”
Kodak negative gives a lot of range.
For instance if we arrange a wide shot
then the clarity and details that we get
on the face of a character compliments
with the detailing of the background
and if there is greenery and flowers
in the background then you get to see
the details of both. This kind of the total
mise-en-scene of a wide shot is possible
only in Kodak stock.
The best time to shoot for me is from 7
am to 11 am in the mornings. At this
time the temperature of the sun is at
its minimum. If we are shooting
outdoors, then we can shoot using
skimmers. After 11 am, the sun is
directly overhead and this causes harsh
shadows below the eyes on a
character’s face.
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