Ravi Chandran, who is cranking three cameras simultaneously for Life of Josutty, opens up about how he landed the offer
When director Jeethu Joseph approached him at the success party of Memories and asked him if he could wield the camera for his upcoming project, Ravi Chandran thought he was kidding.
After all, his only experience with Jeethu was that he was an associate to cinematographer Sujith Vaassudev, who shot Memories. Only later did he know that Jeethu was impressed by Ravi’s debut Kaanchi, which didn’t fare well at the box office.
Now, Life of Josutty (LoJ), Ravi’s second independent project as cinematographer is gearing up to hit the screens soon. Ravi still thinks about it in disbelief. “During the success party of Memories, when Sujith chettan, I and some other crew members were engaged in a conversation, Jeethu chettan came up to us and said: ‘Ravi will be the cinematographer in my film which comes after Drishyam’. Though it was an exciting offer, I thought he was kidding.”
“But it was during the production of Papanasam, did I realise that he was very serious about roping me in as his cameraman for LoJ,” says Ravi. Though he debuted with Indrajith-starrer Kaanchi, a film based on a screenplay penned by Jeyamohan, Ravi continued as Sujith’s associate as he didn’t get any good offers.
“After assisting Rana Prathap and Vijay Ulakanath, I was with Sujith chettan from Chekavar. Even after Kaanchi, I got no tempting offers and continued with Sujith chettan. But during the shoot of Papanasam, Jeethu chettan told me that he had watched Kaanchi and that’s why he chose me for LoJ,” he says.
Usually, even working with two cameras is a headache for a cinematographer. But for LoJ, Ravi is cranking three cameras simultaneously throughout the movie. “It was not to show technical brilliance. The script has demanded such a picturisation. As the director of photography, it was a great experience as I had to be very conscious in placing the lights as well as the camera movements as more than two cameras are working simultaneously,” he says.
For his smooth transition as an independent cinematographer, he owes it all to his experience with Neelathamara and City of God. Ravi, who is currently in the post production of LoJ, has all the reasons to smile. A second film offer from Jeethu himself!
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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