Your academics in guntur, were u inclined right from the beginning 2 take up cinematography as ur career?

I was born and brought up in guntur and I finished my academics there. I shifted to hyderabad to do my bachelors. I was inclined towards film making right from my school days but I had little clue as to how to go about it. I started understanding the various departments involved in film making like direction, cinematography,editing, sound design, art-direction etc, but i really didn’t have access and clarity as to which way i should proceed further.

One day I came across an article about the film institute of Pune and I asked them to send me a prospectus, after which I realized that its a post graduation course and there were only 6 six seats available in each department. I was doing my second year intermediate and cinematography is one aspect which fascinated me at that particular time. My mind wasn’t on engineering as the normal thing expected out of us was to take it up after 10+2 . 

Your stint in hyderabad?

My parents are agriculturists and they were broad minded enough to give me so much freedom. They trusted me though they’ve had conventional hopes of their sons being doctors and engineers. My father felt very happy when i took him along to collect the National award.

My initial experiences in Hyderabad was very interesting.

In Hyderabad I got into Marine electronics and after five months into it, i came to know about JNTU collage of fine arts which offered a bachelors in photography. I was excited and applied for the entrance though I didn’t know how to handle a camera.

I later chatted with the students and that too had limited seats of 20. I got through the exam somehow and that changed my course of life. I knew that i was destined to be a cinematographer.

Who helped u out with ur career? is it easy getting offers for aspiring Cinematographers?

Once I was done at the Film Institute, i was not sure where i had to go but eventually decided on hyderabad as I wanted to work for telugu films. Before i joined the institute i made lot of friends who were from the industry, they all used to attend the Hyderabad film club screenings.

I also worked with Ajay vincent and Vincent garu for a short while and the going wasn’t all that difficult. I felt that the industry is always hunting for talent.

What is the scene like in Mumbai?

Mumbai is always full of energy. It a city where any one can get work and at that time the entertainment sector was going through a good phase. In hyd, one can find a lot of work too apart from feature films i.e advertising,promos,short films, documentaries et al. So there is scope for experimenting and Film institute graduates do have an edge on others in terms of opportunities.

Ur award winning film, something abt that?

Well i think that’s history. Any way i’ll mention abt it brief. When i was at film institute, UNESCO asked for scripts for 5 short films from different continents. I was in the  second year and I happened to write a script and sent it across, it was selected for the Asia pacific region and they funded $15000.

The film was screened in many international film festivals and was telecast in 30 TV channels in Europe and USA.It won the award for `Best film for young children, 2004′ from the Association of International Broadcasting.I got a “Special Jury award” at the Indian National film awards 2004. The film was called `EK AAKASH’

Your memorable moments in ur college and in film industry?

I think i cherished every moment in the institute. We all would sit in the main theater and watch rushes of the films we shot. Then we would have a hearty laugh at our shortcomings under the Wisdom tree. Also Holi was the most memorable fest at the institute. I remember very vividly, we were shooting for Ek Aakash perched on roof tops waiting for the wind to blow in our direction for hours to shoot the kites fly.

The last days of shooting Madhumasam and Pourudu and watching the films with the audience at the theatre on the first day gave me a high. ANR saw the film and appreciated my work in both the films. It made me feel good.

Most rewarding work in ur career

A short film i shot for my colleague from the institute recently called `REWIND’. The entire film was in the reverse mode. It was very exciting and challenging to visualize the shots in reverse.The film was from `shots international’ and it will on soon at Apple itunes.

Your work experience with madhumasam n pourudu directors, any particular people u want 2 work with?

I had a great time shooting Madhumasam and pourudu. Both the films have a completely different visual style. Madhumasam is a love story with subtle emotions where as Pourudu is an emotional action film.Chandra sidhard the director of Madhumasam is a friend of mine since my pre institutes days and we always wanted to work together. He is a very jovial person and never comes under pressure. He keeps his cool all the time. He also keeps his crew in good spirits. He has a great ability in handling actors and drawing the best performances from them. He also gave me immense freedom to experiment. We are in great tune with each other and we rarely discuss about how to go about a scene. We discuss more about dialogues and screenplay more than shot taking and lighting.

Pourudu was a different experience and I had to make sure that Sumant looked different and dynamic since it was an action oriented film..Raj Aditya is the director and we never met before pourudu. He has great confidence and is a cool person basically.He always made sure that the other crew members are convinced about every thing before we commence shooting.He is very open to ideas and discusses openly without apprehensions. He also believes that a film is a collaborative medium.He is very quick in adapting to the situation .

Among the telugu directors Rajmouli,shekar kammula, Bhaskar, sukumar ,Ram gopal varma,Bapugaru would be fun to work with.

How does the vision of each director differ and how do u live upto it?

Definitely every director has a different approach towards film-making. Cinematographers have to understand the his/ her ideology of filmmaking that would come through in the discussions about the scripts and genre of the films he likes etc. Once you understand that i think you can place the film you are working together.

I think if the script falls into what he believes in, it will be easy to work because ,lot of it comes from the script.I think its always better to approach a visual style from the script side rather than directors side,since all new age directors want to do some thing very different form his earlier film.It will make your work challenging even if you are shooting multiple times for the same director.

Your future projects

I have not taken up any new project yet. At the moment there is one at the discussion stage. Right now I’m trying to get into advertising…Planning to shoot a short film next month….looking for the finance!!

You philosophy in life n ur goal

By the end of my career when i look back , I would want to put my hand on my heart and be able to say
‘ i have contributed to the language of cinema.’

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2061804/ 

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Gandham Nagaraju is not new to success. It’s just that we are hearing about him for the first time. This 36 year old talented man is a principal of a PG college in Khammam. His body of work includes two novels and 25 stories. While the novels have been published in Swaati the stories 23 out of the 25 have won prizes. In 2006 he got the Nandi for the best writer category. Gamyam is his second film and earlier he had written for the dubbed version of Morning Raaga.

Nagaraju is modesty personified and refuses to take credit for the dialogues in Gamyam. He says, “ I need to express myself but the platform has been provided by this very young director to whom I’m indebted.” The writer’s ambition is not to scale heights in his career but as the dialogue in the film goes, he wants to be a human, remain humane for the rest of his life. Manishi manishi avatam chaala kastam”

He adds that he doesn’t like self centred people and goes on to describe Sharwanand’s character in Gamyam. “God couldn’t be there everywhere so he created a human being and there is something else too. If a donkey were to be given hands, it would go to an extent of showing god like a donkey. So Sharwanand’s role was basically that of a donkey, he did not care for anyone, all he wanted is his love. Whereas Naresh says..feed me twice and give me some faith, I’ll show you a human.”

The writer says we should be thankful to kammula and Krish for erasing the misconception that tamil film makers had on us …they would say…one opening scene, one song, 2 fights, and telugu cinema is complete. There is a lot of change taking place and it’s a welcome sign.Nagaraju opines that he is not a professional writer and all he likes here in the film industry is interacting with good directors because life is a learning process and creativity springs from mingling with good humans. Money has never been his priority and if at all he is aiming at something it is to work for two good films which will remain immortal in a collection of good DVDs.

Though he worked as a writer for the telugu version of Raagam, Nagaraju has no faith in off beat cinema. He did it for purely personal reasons and adds that one should give what the audience wants in a way that interests them without being vulgar.

Gandham Nagarju is a breath of fresh in telugu cinema industry and one should notice the positive feeling, thinking  he reflects in his work.  Before signing off ask him what his goal is and he quips, “marokari meedha saadinche aadhikyata na goal kaadhu. I try to compete with myself and I strive to be a better person.”

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Jayakrishna Gummadi wanted to be a cinematographer when he was ten years old, but he made up his mind when he saw the lush visuals, ‘the light, the movement and the organic colours’ in Geetanjali and moved to FTI to graduate in Fine Arts. While studying photography in JNTU his father bought him his first camera and then he realised the same photographic process happening in a different scale. Jayakrishna’s parents gave their relentless support and encouragement and he worked with Samir Reddy as his assistant for a couple of years before he started working for telugu films. Mr and Mrs Sailaja Krishnamurty, a malayalam film Winter, Ram and Okkadunnadu are some of his films and Jayakrishna says that he shot for all the above without hearing the story but now has resolved to go through the script. At the moment his digital work in Idi Sangati is getting rave reviews.

How did u first learn about cinematagraphy? When did u first own ur camera?
As a child I was very much drawn into visual arts like painting and photography. When film making caught my eye it was easy to know that the same photographic process happening in a different scale.While studying photography in JNTU college of fine arts my father bought me my first camera.

Were ur parents averse or open to ur idea of profession/career?
They are very open. It was my father who mentioned study at FTII as an option after i completed my intermediate.. and later he only suggested to join in photography .. I joined BFA immediately after intermediate.. my parents gave their relentless support and encouragement..

What changes did digital cinematography bring to telugu cinema industry?
Our Industry is slowly opening it’s doors to digital cinematography. 1.because there is more and more post production techniques which are finding place in the film grammer here.. which means going through and intermediate state which will reduce the film’s resolution to 2k.. which is what shooting on HD offers..
2. The cost effectiveness of recording devices..such as HD tape or hard disk etc..
3. Shooting on HD allows one to use spherical lenses which are extremely sharp with advanced optical elements. these lenses also offer the liberty of staying close to the actors because of their minimal focal distance being sometimes as less as 9 inches which is very less in comparison to 3 feet in anamorphic lenses(which are usually used in films)… these lenses also give a true perspective of human eye..

Which was the first telugu cinema shot with digital camera and what was the result, later how many followed suit?
Vendi mabbulu was the first digital film in telugu.. which is also the first in the country..I am not aware of the result of the film..but not many people were open to shooting in digital later.. now it is changing..

Whose idea was it to shoot this way 4 idi sangati? what is the response for the work in the film.
It was a decision of both the director and me.. while we visualised the script as a satire human relationship vis-a-vis money.. we wanted to stay closer to the actors as if we are entering into their psychological space… this is possible to shoot in super 35 and digital alone… since shooting on viper allowed us to use more wider lenses which give a different perspective ..keeping in mind the cost factor also we went in for Digital.. My work in the film is being appreciated by critics and common viewers too.. I am happy to see a lot of people mentioning how they are now confident about going digital.

Plz list of out the benefits and disadvantages of shooting with digital camera with examples of a few films.
Since the process of image making in digital is not organic like ‘film’ .. it has to be carefully monitored keeping in mind it’s limitations. Film has more dynamic range of exposure latitude.. given the climatic conditions that we have it is very essential to understand the behaviour of the CCD (color coupled device on which is the image formed) and shoot within the limited range it offers. we have to keep in mind.’film’ has been around for almost 2 hundred years now.. and digital film making is emerging only in the recent past..

What is the scenario of young budding cinematographers in telugu industry?
It is very encouraging here.. there is an awareness of requirement for new perspective in cinematography .. a fresh eye.. so more and more young cinematographers are getting oppurtunities.. the whole nexus of film to screen process is full of variables.. most of which are unfortunately not in the hands of the cinematographer.. because of which even if there is a lot of promise they are not able to get acclaim for their work.. and eventually not able to get projects to showcase their talent… I think filmmakers in the present generation are more conscious of cinematography.. they are also more informed about the technicalities… which is a good sign because they can incorporate the ideas of cinematography into the script.. integrate all the inputs which can showcase their cinematographer’s vision of the film.. more and more multiplexes coming is a good sign too coz there is more standardization for the technical aspects of film viewing experience..

What kind of films shud a cinematographer accept?, i.e on what basis can he okay a film.
I think there is no set method to approach a film.. but I think given ideal conditions.. one must opt for a film which he strongly believes in… going through the making process of which is sure to have a great time.. where there is a promise of synthesis of all the other elements of filmmaking…

Who is ur inspiration and what kind of films do u watch, how do u learn or improvise on ur work, how do u update urself
Every good work of art is an inspiration for me.. there is a lot of music in some paintings.. and great spectral range of colours in a melody of some music..I draw inspiration from anything evokes my passion.. I watch a lot of world cinema.. both contemporary and landmark films.. there is a lot of good work happening across the world.. with the advent of internet it is very easy to keep oneself updated about what is happening in the world of cinema… we share a lot of our views on the ongoing cinematic developments with our fellow comrades..fellow cinematographers..

Which is ur fav film and how do u describe/define good camera work?
My favourite film is ‘where is my friends home?‘ it is an iranian film by Abbas kiarostami..I think a good cinematographer is one who integrates the narrative elements with his vision to produce a work which affects the viewer emotionally, spiritually, psychologically and even physiologically… yet being very sublime in his presence..

Are there any directors u r looking forward to work with and do u want to move to mumbai in the future?
Nobody in particular.. but anybody who has a great script and a relentless passion to bring it to screen..yes.. I am open to work anywhere the world.. mumbai has a good amount of interesting work happening..

Is there any diff in the way cinematographers are dealt with in the hindi and telugu films.
I think in telugu films cinematographers..for that matter a lot of other film technicians are taken for granted.. In hindi there is more professional ’space’ quite etched out… there is a lot of awareness there and also there is more experimenting happening..

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Challa Anirudra Reddy is in his twenties but he’s done quite a lot to fill up his resume. He has done marketing in movies before he gave it up to become an editor. Rudra as he is called in the industry tells TCP that he worked with Shimit Amin for Ab Tak Chappan and RGV’s Company and a couple of movies as an assistant editor and then moved to Boney Kapoor’s camp for No Entry.

Apparently his first feature film as an editor was for UAE, an Arabic movie. Ask him how managed that? He says, “Language is not a must for editors, how you present the film is more than enough plus we do have language translators.” Another interesting thing Rudra reveals is that Veta which was made into many languages is an adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ Count of Monte Cristo. He adds, “A sheik in Dubai wanted to make it in Arabic, Parsi and in Urdu and I’ve worked as an editor for the trilingual film. The hero was the same but the artistes differed for the three languages.”

What more, he assisted in the editing department for Marigold and had done live editing in Uttaranchal for Ashwin Kumar’s The Forest. But what made his work enriching was the Digital Intermedaite Process in films like Fanaa, Golmaal, Omkaara, Pyaar Ke Side Effects. At the moment Rudra is involved in Venkat’s Thoda Hat Ke which is Konchem Kottaga in telugu and Rs. 999/- Maatrame which is being made with the Aithe concept.

“The Grade I film editor says patience is one of the virtues of an editor. A newcomer who is fascinated with the film world shouldn’t come here with misconceptions. Most people think that being computer literate helps you finish your editing in a jiffy but that’s not true. A hand’s on experience is an asset.”

Heard Navdeep is gonna work in another film with Krishna Vamsi

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Publicity Designer Krishna, 33, haills from Vijayawada. After a stint of two years in Chennai in the Chennai School of Arts he joined as an apprentice with Eshwar and worked with him for seven years. In 1998 he shifted to Hyderabad and started working independently, he has worked for over 100 films so far.

In a free wheeling chat with Cinema Prapancham, the talented and happening designer talks about various issues in connection with film publicity designing. 

What is the role of a publicity designer in movies? Till a film releases, not many people know what’s happening with the film, in the film, the stars, the story. From a common man in the village to a movie buff in the city, the promotion that we do all helps in giving the audience the mood of the film, the flavour and an idea as to what the film is going to look like. We create the logos, posters to fulfil the audience’s curiosity.

Krishna was involved in manual designing when he was with Eshwar and started off by cutting and pasting the stills. Every day was a learning experience. “This kind of work one needs to have an artistic bent of mind. We are given two or three months time to work on it and sometimes we got to finish it in the last minute when the film release approaches. The assignment comes late but we have to deliver the output on time. A lot of discussions take place with the producer and director before we start off with our work. Things get easier when we are granted freedom to play around with fonts, designs, etc. Sometimes we are not even appraised about the storyline and we have to satisfy the clients. We use our judgement on such occasions.”

Krishna adds that a poster or a publicity material should be in such a way that it attracts the viewer to the theatre. We adhere to certain design duties and right from every schedule we are given stills to form an opinion and that’s how we pick our idea on how to portray the hero on the poster, the weapon, etc. Sometimes the producer/director tells us what he wants on the poster and we deliver it according to his choice for example Bhagyalakshmi Bumper Draw. They had an idea and we implemented it.”

Krishna says it would be better if stars co-operate and get photo shoots done so that the output becomes striking. High resolution pictures comes from outdoor shoots. Seperate shoots in this connection helps. The interaction with the director and producer adds to the quality. He says, “It takes us around 120 days to finish the work. There were only posters before publicity but right now the vinyl/flex designs are in demand. There is more competition. Every city needs atleast 40 designs and at that rate every place in AP? Maybe around 150 designs for a film is expected from us.

We keep on working if a film is heading towards 100 days and add new designs. We cannot make one design and reproduce the rest. Each design and placement differs. For example we place a duet design on a vizag beach, an action poster in a mass area.”

The publicity designer laments there is no quality in posters made in offset printing. Right now the rates for hoardings of flex have come down, earlier it would cost 70 Rs. per square ft in 1998 but now it’s 7 Rs. About the new entrants from multimedia into publicity designing, Krishna says, “Some people after completion of multimedia training come through contacts into this field, they are given the union cards but they can never deliver creative work. The quality suffers. They can’t work under deadlines and pressure because of lack of experience. It’s nice they get introduced to movies so soon but it helps if you have hands on experience.”

“In the industry Dhani Aelay, Suresh Bujji and Kiran Poster Ads,” are popular says Krishna. He adds the success of the film is directly linked to the opportunities. It helps when you go and tell them that your previous film was a hit. About the fonts, he says, “They form an indelible impression on the people’s mind. Take for example Shiva or Gang Leader. People still remember the title design. There is no hard and fast rule, we can play around with them. Usually for an action film we use a rugged font, round ones for family movies and italicised ones for romantic films.”

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Shanti is an associate director and it’s nice to see a woman work in a male-dominated industry. “Hey, don’t give men too much importance by talking like that,” she says. A saree designer before she took to films all of a sudden. Ask her how it happened and she says, “Films are not my passion. I called Rasool one day and he gave me a chance to work. Most production people don’t employ women because of the irregular and odd timings and because if you are married and you have children you can’t concentrate. But things are changing don’t we have women working in BPOs? It wasn’t difficult, I could impress upon them.”

How was it working on the first day on the sets? “First day was kind of okay, but on the  second day I was damn tired. I did a lot of walking around and was totally fed up with the work. I wanted to stop working here. But slowly I realised that this is where I want to be and started putting my heart and soul in it. I loved working with Teja. I worked with him for three films and then I was associated with Krishna Vamsi’s movie. People still have that attitude..what is she doing in a director’s department?”

Shanti adds, “I never had any problems on the sets. If anyone makes some comment, I scold them. If you do your work properly no one bothers. It’s been five years since I’ve been here. I have a son and luckily for me my mother takes care of him.” Ask her what’s the nature of her work? “I write the censor script. Before the film releases, I have to describe the film on paper, dialogues, scenes, locations, etc. I get paid 15 thousand a month and sometimes I do translation of movie dialogues if the film is going for a national award. I did one.. for Pothe Poni. They pay me 10 thousand for that.”

Shanti says she has got used to the work now but what hurts her is when there is a break announced on the sets all men get together and chat and she is left on her own, without a friend or a conversation. Also producers never give a chance to women to direct. And that artistes are close to the men in the unit, the priority is for them. Any tough moment she had to face? “Yep, I worked for one associate director of a low budget movie. He was so frustrated and would show all his anger on me.”

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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.”

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