Hyderabad: Ever since B. Durga Kishore bagged the job as a second assistant cameraman with Slumdog Millionaire, he has been going places. The city-based film technician has worked in Hollywood, Bollywood and is now in Tollywood for a while.
“Films have fascinated me since childhood, and I knew that if I had to do something in life, it had to be in films. So I discontinued my studies at the Intermediate level and shifted my base from Vijayawada to Hyderabad to work with the Ram Prasad Unit as a camera trainee. I was 17 then. After working with the same unit for four years, I moved to Mumbai, where I was offered work in a Hollywood project. Surprisingly, it turned out to be Slumdog Millionaire and I worked as the second assistant cameraman.”
After the splendid success of Slumdog Millionaire, Kishore went on to work for films like Kaminey, London Dreams, Madras Café and Hollywood films like Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, The Letters and The Lovers.
But despite a good career in the West, Kishore has shifted base to Hyderabad and is currently working as a cinematographer in Tollywood.
Kishore explains, “While working on The Letters, its cinematographer Jack N. Green offered me a chance to work with him. But he suggested that I work as a cinematographer for a few films in Tollywood before shifting completely to Hollywood. He felt this would help me get some experience and also that I’d then be able to work as a cinematographer in Hollywood, and not just an assistant.”
Here in Tollywood, he has worked as a cinematographer for Sandram, Boy meets Girl and, most recently, for Kiraak.
So, what difference did he spot between filmmaking in Hollywood and India? “Pre-production is way more organised in the West. The script, the story board, the photographs of locations and even day-wise shooting schedules are explained in details to the heads of each department. But in India, pre-production work just involves discussion of the script and a few meetings,” says Kishore.
