Think of any great filmmaker of recent times, and chances are that cinematographer Ravi K Chandran has worked with them. And yet, in his 35 years as one of the most acclaimed cinematographers of contemporary Indian cinema, Ravi hasn’t found that many opportunities to work on action-driven films, his favourite genre as a movie-lover, until the Pawan Kalyan starrer, They Call Him OG, which released a few weeks ago.
As OG gears up for the OTT premiere, the legendary cinematographer talks about collaborating with Sujeeth on the actioner, the reference points for the film’s visual styling, why shooting in the mornings is the best, and more.
Excerpts:
I have always been selective. I keep my basics simple and choose films that I want to do. I live in the same house I bought 35 years ago for Rs 3 lakhs. I feel when you come into films, you come here to make films, not to make money. I always advise my cinematographers not to buy equipment. Once you start thinking about buying a camera and renting it out later, something dies in you. It will distract you from your actual work.
The idea is that you shouldn’t be able to tell who shot a film. The audience should be surprised. Now this year, both OG and Thug Life are gangster films. You cannot say that the Thug Life DOP shot OG. Sujeeth is different from Mani Ratnam. Sudha Kongara, who is making Parasakthi, has a different film language. Cinema is a director’s medium, and OG is Sujeeth’s vision. We are all just supporting him.
The idea is that you shouldn’t be able to tell who shot a film. The audience should be surprised. Now this year, both OG and Thug Life are gangster films. You cannot say that the Thug Life DOP shot OG. Sujeeth is different from Mani Ratnam. Sudha Kongara, who is making Parasakthi, has a different film language. Cinema is a director’s medium, and OG is Sujeeth’s vision. We are all just supporting him.
First, we decided to set the film in the 1980s. It brings back memories of younger Pawan Kalyan sir, and makes it feel like a Tarantino film. Sujeeth was also very fascinated with the Japanese background, so we thought of using the Japanese flag colours in lighting. The lighting was red and the costumes were white, like in Pawan sir’s intro scene or interval scene.
It’s not easy at all. Directors need time to breathe. I am usually in a hurry, and that throws them off, so I need to change my gear. For OG, the most difficult challenge was for Manoj Paramahansa (co-cinematographer) to match some of the things we had shot earlier. It’s very difficult for the continuity team, but all ADs stood by Sujeeth.
Sujeeth is one of the nicest people. He is very straightforward and tells the story in a different way, with an unusual editing pattern. However, I need a linear story flow, so I can think of visual ideas. A good visual is the most important way to tell stories, like the first step of OG back in Mumbai.
That’s when you get the best light in Mumbai. We shot Ok Jaanu (2017) entirely in South Bombay, shooting only in early mornings and then in the evening. Mumbai is very grey and dirty, and not right for a romantic film. To create a mood, you need morning light. That’s why all Mani Ratnam films look great, because he shoots in the mornings. Dil Se is the most stunning looking film in SRK’s career, because he made him shoot in the morning.
If you go to Europe, you will always have backlight. But in India, the sun comes up very quickly. If you choose mornings, you can shoot anywhere beautifully. In that light, even my hotel room looks nice (chuckles).
In My Name is Khan, we wanted the American flag colours — red, blue, and white — since the whole film is about an identity crisis in America. Manish Malhotra had already bought costumes, and I had to send back all of them. In OG too, DVV Danayya sir got upset when he decided to make it a period film, since it increased the budget. Sometimes, you have to fight a lot to achieve a certain look.
I was in a village when I watched Puthiya Paravai (1964) first time – it had a different look and multiple colours. Then Balu Mahendra came, Ilaiyaaraja came. With films like 16 Vayanthinile, Azhiyatha Kolangal, and Moondram Pirai, Tamil cinema went from sets to real locations. Cinematographers like PS Nivas, Ashok Kumar, and Balu Mahendran changed the face of Tamil films.
Then Mani Ratnam arrived; he and PC Sriram toppled everything. I remember Sanjay Leela Bhansali told me he would visit Chennai just to watch Mani Ratnam films; that’s the impact he created.
Hits and flops are momentary; films should live longer. People remember films like Pyaasa and Kaagaz Ke Phool for their cinematography. We study VK Murthy’s work in those films even now. Pyaasa’s influence is heavy on Geethanjali and Black.
On the other hand, OG is a commercial film. In such a film, to get noticed is a difficult thing. However, after Black, OG is the first film where I received so many calls and messages. All these younger kids, who probably haven’t seen my earlier films, are noticing these things in OG now. Even when Thug Life title teaser came, so many cinematographers asked me how we did that. It was a simple outdoor location, a barren land with no properties. There was nothing else I could do besides correct lensing and framing.
In Hindi Cinema, there are a lot of cinematographers I like. Pankaj Kumar (Haider, Tumbbad) is terrific. Anay Goswami (Mom) is very good; his work is very international. Shyam Sundar’s work is very subtle. Then there are Nimish Ravi, Sanu Varghese, Manush Nandan, and Girish Gangadharan, whose work is very good.
I did the post-production work for all my Telugu films here. The Annapurna Studios team has the best DI suites and state-of-the-art LED walls technology. We received great support from their team; otherwise it wouldn’t be possible to achieve many deadlines for OG, because the edit was changing till the last minute. If I had done this in Mumbai, coordination would have been a nightmare.
I don’t get Telugu film offers that often, because they think I live in Bombay and do only Hindi films. (laughs) But I am also conscious about not taking on too many commercial films or big action films. I personally love watching action films. Also, whatever action films I’ve done, the action directors have won awards for them — be it Virasat, Yuva, or Ghajini. But here in India, they mostly make Avengers-styled action films — I am not a big fan of that. For OG, I told Sujeeth, “We will try to avoid Phantom cameras.” We eventually used them very specifically in 1-2 sequences, that’s it.
It’s purely Sujeeth’s vision, and everybody aligned with that. I would give full credit to him for this film’s success. It was he who drove all of us. He had a clear vision, and his team of young boys would discuss and come up with many ideas. Their ideas are new ideas, and something new always throws you off. That’s a good thing.