Visual Journey Santosh Sivan ISC ,ASC – PART TWO!

Santosh Sivan is a filmmaker celebrated in India and beyond for his free, lyrical style, and especially his skill as a cinematographer.

In conversation with SICA continues for PART TWO!

* How do you manage to bring imagery to the  films where theme  that doesn’t support  Visually?

My first national award winning for best cinematography ” Perumthatchan” where writer of the film  M.T.Vasudevan Nair told me ”Santosh this is not a Visual film where most of the film evolves around characters intense conversations…then i took it as a challenge and told him that i will treat faces in this film as a ‘‘Landscape”.

* Can you narrate experiences working  as cinematographer with Legendary Painter M.F.Hussain for his film?

MF Hussaian happened to see my commercials I made for Kerala. Upon that he painted images i had captured…then i got a call from him to shoot for his film which was supposed to be like more personal one. And experimental, MF Hussain gave me a offer that i cant refuse, he took me to the studio where he had displayed huge canvas of paintings featuring my images that i had shot for Kerala and an image from my Directorial Asoka.

We started collaborating  together.. his son Owaiz Hussain was also there ”Meenaxi tale of Three cities” Hindi language film, on shooting process MF Hussain didnt had any script in written form…daily morning he used to paint an Image …we have to shoot the scenes based on the paintings and he was only concerned about we have to use the same color palate in the paintings…it was a different experience.

* Your Aspect Ratio for Iruvar was very different at that time of release? 

Iruvar is a period political drama so we wanted not only costumes and sets to create that particular period..Mani Ratnam  also wanted to stick to the aspect ratio of MGR films, So i shot with 1: 1.37 , where i got very good composition on a Square format…Visuals was very similar to the Satyajit Ray films, it had my signature shots of wide angle close ups,also Macro lenses and it went on to  win national award for best cinematography.

*  One of your signature shots is using some very extreme close ups ?

I like close ups ….ah yes why extreme close ups..is when you show something interesting on the screen why not go little extremes! Rabindernath Tagore once said ”He sees whole world into the tiny droplets of water”…i too believe  there is a chance to tell a story through extreme close ups!

* How about you landed  Acting in films?

In my film Anandabhadram (Malayalam) as cinematographer i used for one song i used fully Raja Ravi Verma paintings…so that time if it is about painting my cinematography in Perumthatchan and Anandabhadram came as a reference..so the Director Lenin Rajendran of the film Makara Manju ..had a story on Raja Ravi Verma …he wanted me too act in the lead role because i used to paint…so they needed someone who can paint in real and also popular…that’s where i landed in acting.

The film had Madhu Ambat as cinematographer…he too was excited to speak to an actor who specializes in cinematography…where he can talk precisely about exposure and lighting positions.

* Monsoon plays very important role in your films ?

I grew up in Kerala where i can see water at different moods…in Terrorist i tried to use water as a metaphor ‘sometimes water can be quiet, water can be gentle flow…it can be strong like a wave in waterfalls…according to me observing nature is itself an art..for aspiring cinematographers i would say just to watch from Morning to Evening…the change nature produces is like a Navarasa(the nine emotions are Shringara (love/beauty), Hasya (laughter), Karuna (sorrow), Raudra (anger), Veera (heroism/courage), Bhayanaka (terror/fear), Bibhatsya (disgust), Adbutha (surprise/wonder) and Shantha (peace or tranquillity).

For me in films Land and Water is like a character …i had that form factor in all my films like Dalapathy. Dilse, Urumi.

* You had not fancied to a particular  brand of Cameras and Lenses… always tried to shoot with different types of cameras still able to achieve the best result?

I firmly believe that …the best Cameras is always  the Camera in your hand! each cameras have their own character whether big or small…it is we compose and create..it is cinematographer who uses camera as a tool…but it is always his imagination stays in first place.

* You had Directed a feature film in Tamil ”Navarasa”(2005) in 16mm format?

I want to do a film on Third Gender …where they had been always used in films as a fun element…Navarasa is a story revolves a young girl taking her first steps towards adulthood encounters his uncle a  Gender change..!

I wanted to explore this subject  in a objective way…and to shoot at the festival of koovagam as a backdrop in a more candid way…so i had to film with a 16mm film camera and blow up to 35mm prints.

Visualization of this film had the concepts of light and dark, shadow and sunlight to depict the ambiguities that underline human sexuality.

* How did your romance with small cameras start ?

Oh. According to me when you point finger at the moon …you have to look at the moon not the finger…like that the subject matters not the camera we shoot…yes during pandemic i had a chance to shoot MT Vasudevan Nairs script  there was a huge restriction for shooting crew members…and i had to handle camera single handedly…so i got to see Canon C-70 camera where i can operate camera and do follow focus option by myself and also shoot without monitor…the results were very impressive Director Priyadharshan wanted to use the same camera.

* While shooting Priyadarshan’s Kaala Paani magnum opus of that time …we heard you used fire sticks to light a scene?

During shooting at Andamans for Kaala Paani ..after the shoot walking towards remote area i could find out some rare  sticks which was burning did not create smoky fumes…so i collected a bunch of sticks and shot for a particular jail sequence as a main source of light.

* How about recent developments with AI ( Artificial Intelligence)

Currently i am learning AI….Planning to use the technology for some portions of a Hindi film…as i said earlier the technology keeps changing…the best way is to learn it quickly and use it wisely.

AI technology will not effect cinematography as for as it remains as story telling medium.

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SICA  wholeheartedly thanks its member Santosh Sivan for sharing his valuable cinematic journey and wishes all success for his future endeavors.

Filmography- WIKIPEDIA 

Article by

CJ Rajkumar

Author /Cinematographer