Letz stalk Senthil….

Senthil is a student from Bollarum and has done his PG from PG College, Secunderabad. After passing out from college he had no idea as to what line he should choose and one day his friend got him an application form from the Film Institute of Pune and asked him to fill up the blanks. At that point of time Senthil was preparing for the civil services exams and just for the heck of it appeared for this entrance exam as well. “It was the beginning of my destiny,” says he.

At a time in Telugu film industry when cinematographers are receiving an unprecedented amount of attention and credit for their contributions to the art of filmmaking, Senthil, son of an army personnel has emerged as one of the screen’s most gifted and creative cameramen. Working closely with his directors, Senthil manages in film after film to create a visual style that is uniquely suited to the story’s thematic intentions. He says time and again that he wants to plant his own particular stamp on a film’s visual style.

Senthil picked cinematography as his subject without rhyme or reason and is quite successful. He says, “My father warned me that this doesn’t guarantee a stable profession, and we also do not have anyone associated from movies, if you want to take a chance, go ahead. So I went there and once I got into it I realised that this is the place I ought to be and there was no looking back. After cricket this was the only thing I fell in love with. Even when I was in the final the year I started getting little projects from filmmakers. The interaction from ex-students, local film people, agents usually helps one find a standing.”

He continues, “When you pass out from the institute, the only thing on the grad’s mind is to move to Mumbai. They all get into television but I didn’t want to, plus I was financially not sound to stay put in the city to eke out a living. I also believed that you should prove yourself on the home turf first before you venture to conquer the world. I shifted to Hyderabad and got in touch with G. Sharath and I found myself working for Krishna Reddy’s films. At that time I didn’t know anyone and the purpose of doing those two films was to get contacts and a foothold in the industry. It was aimed at improving my public relations.”

“What you learn in the institute is completely in contrast to what you see in the industry. There in the institute you shoot in ideal conditions. Here you think you have fun looking at the hero, heroines but it’s all hard work, deadlines, too many pressures.”

Ask Senthil what is the job of the cinematographer? He says, “His job is to tell the story visually. I’m just helping him put it in a visual format, to support a story. Every film has to be dealt differently. Everyone tells a story and every story demands visuals. Some stories demand rustic look, some want sleek, comical, colourful. The visual is born in the head at that point of time when you hear the story.

On location we (director and the cameraman) are only two people to take command of the situation. The director takes part of the emotional element, to draw performance from the artistes and the cinematographer takes care of the technical part. They both should complement each other, otherwise it shows on screen.

I work only one film at a time. I involve myself in story, discussions, location, scouting. It takes 8 months of homework. I pre-visualise a lot of things. About the budget, yes it is directly proportionate to your work. It’s not that if you spend enough money you get quality. You need to know how much to spend and when judiciously. The requirement like the camera, light, types and number of cranes used, generators all count. I did one low budget movie Aithe and some big flicks like Sye, Chatrapati, Ashok and Yamadonga.

The kind of stature I’m enjoying here, I’m sure I won’t get that in Mumbai or elsewhere. I did get offers but they are not exciting. If I do something it should leave a mark. In south there is more discipline and professionalism.” Does Senthil know before hand that this film isn’t going to work? “Yes, I do get vibes that a particular film won’t work while I’m still shooting. Many times I can’t tell it right. I’m content that within such short period I had been able to make a mark. ”

Senthil has been stressing that he can’t get into too many projects at the same time. He narrates one incident which helped him resolve to work on one film at a time. “I feel bad that I left Arundhati midway. Yamadonga was a  previous commitment. Getting out mid-way was very difficult. I was very attached to the project. That was the time I made up my mind that I’m not going to do any project that I can’t complete.”

Question Senthil as to how he upgrades his work. “I watch a lot of films, majorly music videos. Chinese films have a lot more visual quality, they are better than Hollywood films. I go through film magazines, new equipments, paintings, ads-both print and television. Paintings becoz when you see a painting, you just don’t see how it looks, you analyse why it looks beautiful, the colour scheme, the composition and I also do a lot of thinking. Film making is a team work, no simple person can take credit, camera work is complete by costumes, art department, director, performances…it’s a collective effort.”

Senthil is inspired by Gordon Willis who is famed for his penchant at photographing in extremely dark conditions, an approach which earned him the nickname “The Prince of Darkness”. He says, “My enchantment with his work began even before I joined films. I like the way he illuminates the character. He involved psychology into film making.. He’s awesome.”