SOUTH INDIAN CINEMATOGRAHY

 SOUTH INDIAN CINEMATOGRAHY 

A conversation with Prof. K. Venkataraman, kindled the long etched memories within me that were in a somewhat sedate state. We were trying to recall some outstanding cinematography situations in some movies and as a natural corollary the central spot was cinematographers of those movies. In my daily routine of posting some topic in blog, I took a decision to share those ideas with my blog readers. So, for a few days it is likely to be the subject trying to focus on specific merits of those wizards.   Please read on

Unlike movies themselves, cinematography as a function has been free of language bias with Southern Indian technicians working for projects in Hindi and Western Indian Cinematographers working on Southern projects were all too common. Recall V Shantaram’s “Janak janak paayal baje” cinematographed by G Balakrishna who again worked for the Tamil project “Vennira aadai”[1965]. Pyar kiye jaa was picturised by N Balakrishnan [Balu] supervised by G Balakrishna. Technical teams always have had free access to work in most other projects, as they had to cater to technique and not to language.

 Given these advantages, the spectrum of languages in Indian cine industry stood the rich benefit of talent. Among them, some were outstanding in their period of work and I propose to recall some of them with a clear declaration that I confine my attempt to a few names though several others may have been experts in their own right. I consider ‘skill’ as an item of contemporary talent; so people of different era should not be ‘assessed by comparison’. Let us consider their unique ability as a feature of attainment in a defined domain. 

It was Gemini studios of Chennai that cornered the reputation for grooming [training] some of the best known names of that era and genre. Eyebrows may arch up on my using the term ‘genre’. Yes, with a degree of well deserved pride [from the intricacies of work involved], I call it so. To have worked to grueling precision under the vagaries of Sun light outdoors and a totally different [low] Kelvin values for indoor lighting, those cinematographers deserve the best of un-reserved encomia of any kind.

Among the then veterans, who have had a ‘seasoned training’ are the names of C. ELLAPPA, RAMAKRISHNAN [ more popular as THAMBU] and the unforgettable A. VINCENT. All of these men cornered glory as the Top cinematographers of South India, each in his own right.  They were trained by the veteran lens man Shri. KAMAL GHOSH of Gemini studios, in the early 1950s. KAMAL GHOSH’s skill as cinematography wizard is held in high esteem by all those who have seen the ‘Drum Dance’ sequence in the movie “Chandraleka” Shri. Ellappa chose to continue with Gemini as their as their lead Cinematographer. Thambu and Vincent joined other firms as cinematographers. What helped them to achieve distinction in cinematography was their ‘originality’, though they had the advantage of learning Kamal Ghosh’s ‘lighting technique’. They rather imbibed the spirit of the art and religiously avoided ‘imitating‘ the technique of Kamal Ghosh.

As this was going on, another group of brilliant cinematographers was also evolving in Vauhini studios. Notable among them was Mr. Marcus Bartley as their lead cinematographer. Later, P.N. Sundaram  joined  Vauhini group as camera assistant. Marcus Bartley shot into fame for his moonlight shots with amazing accuracy.  P.N. Sundaram achieved prominence for some original work strategies as a cinematographer. I intend bringing out some details of the technical skills of these veterans, just to remember them besides reiterating my conviction of the legitimacy in my paying accolades to them.

To continue          Prof. K. Raman