Click to play videoChennai: Does a good cinematographer make a good filmmaker? Well, veteran filmmaker Balu Mahendra sure thinks so.
“As a person who is passionately in love with cinema I think this is it. And I wish once again I were young to start all over again,” Mahendra said reminiscing about the days when he wielded the megaphone for some unforgettable Tamil films like Moonram Pirai dubbed as Sadma in Hindi.
Launching the Cinematographers Series – an occasion to celebrate cinematographers who've turned filmmakers – at Cinema Paradiso in Chennai, Mahendra spoke of some of the filmmakers who have inspired him.
“I've been greatly influenced by many masters of the world, Torraro, Subroto da, James Wong, Freddie Young, they've all influenced me in my college days and even now,” Mahendra said.
Mahendra himself had started off as a cinematographer before switching over to filmmaking in 1976. A career switch which other cinematographers like PC Sriram, Santosh Sivan, Rajeev Menon and Jeeva too followed. So is there a good director hidden in every good cinematographer?
“It doesn't work that way. Now there's a serious school of thought – the cinematographer as the co-author of a film. If a cinematographer has the passion for cinema, naturally, that's the inevitable step forward,” Mahendra said.
And this veteran lensman has his own favourites in the industry. “I have got great respect for Ashok Kumar, Mangada Ravi Varma and Adoor Gopalakrishnan's cameraman. After me it's PC Sreeram, Rajiv Menon and Santhosh Sivan. Unfortunately Jeeva is no more,” he said.
So, if you want to sample some of the great visual styles of these master camerapersons then get your hands on a DVD from the cinematographer's series from Cinema Paradiso, a popular DVD rental chain in the city.
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