The 18-year-old Kavin Raj, the youngest cinematographer in Tamil cinema, has been getting critical acclaim for his debut film, Harish Kalyan’s Ispade Rajavum Idhya Raniyum. “Though I studied editing course in Film Institute, my mind was always in cinematography. I used to read a lot of books on camerawork and got an opportunity to join my friend for short films in Naalaya Iyakkunar season 5 in camera department. I got hands-on experience in camera work and perhaps my passion also helped me to learn the nuances quickly,” Kavin says.
This led him to bag his first film Theedhum Nandrum (TN) as an independent cinematographer. “TN is complete, but yet to release. So, Ispade… became my debut film. Ranjith Jayakodi is my friend and impressed with my work in TN and he offered me IRIR.”
Raj says that he considered IRIR as his lifetime chance and wanted to prove his credentials. “Instead of keeping the camera on a tripod, I shot the entire film with handheld technique which was challenging. I used three different lenses to differentiate three different segments in the movie. For the flashback portions I used 1950 vintage lenses, which are a rarity now. Vintage lenses deliver character that cannot be replicated by any camera or postproduction process. And also we used distinctive colours to express the emotions of the characters. My concentration was always on how to improve the director’s vision through my work. That paid off.”
