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'Rajni praised the camera work'
 After
having wrapped up the shooting of
'Sivaji' ace
cinematographer K V Anand is now on to polishing up his script
for his second directorial venture.
The teaming up of Rajnikant, Shankar, AVM and
A R Rahman has made 'Sivaji' the most hyped film in recent
times. And the most expensive one too. K V in a long chat talks
about his experiences during the making of the film. Excerpts
from the chat:
It's the first time you are working with
Rajnikant. What's your take on the superstar?
Though I was offered four of his films
earlier, I missed out on working with him. So I was happy when I
could make it this time. I find Rajni one of the most
professional actors I've worked with. He shares this trait with
Amitabh Bachchan with whom I've worked in 'Khaki'. With many
actors, making them leave their van and come out for their shoot
is a problem. But with these two actors taking them to the van
is the problem! Rajni is on the sets and patiently waits for his
shots. He trusts his technicians totally. You'll never find him
peeping into the monitor even once. He has no hang-ups. And no
qualms about taking cues from even one of my assistants. During
a shot, one of my assistants would tell him that he wasn't
standing on the marked place. Rajini would be so apologetic. And
when the shot was over, he would first look at the assistant and
ask him if he did it right. I hear him say 'Thank you' and
'Sorry' so many times during the day. And I think it's this
humility of his that is one of his biggest assets.
And Shreya?
 This
is big time for her. I found Shreya to be very dedicated, very
professional. She's a very good dancer, and here she has
performed well too. She's so involved with her role that before
a shot she would ask a lot of questions. On what went before
with the character, and how she was required to play the shot.
But she never once offered any suggestions. She does have this
habit of rushing to the monitor after each shot. And I used to
playfully ask her, 'Don't you trust me or Shankar?'. And she
would say, 'I just wanted to see how my performance was'. An
appreciable trait of her's is that she is a voracious reader and
is seriously into her books when she finds a gap. Shankar is
known to be a perfectionist, and meticulous.
What was his working style?
Shankar chooses top technicians, and gives
them full freedom. He first narrates the script to all of us.
Then for a few days we each go our way. And then we gather and
put forth our suggestions. After a discussion he selects what he
finds suitable. He is very open to suggestions. If someone has a
better idea than him, he is willing to compromise in a second.
At the time of making his final decision, he goes for a vote.
And he takes the opinion of all the technicians, even a light
boy is included. He then goes with the majority. He is not that
rigid or stubborn.
It's said he is a very expensive director and
he does take a long time finishing his films. It's not all true.
Every pie spent is shown in the film. As for the long time
taken, I've worked with him in 'Muthalvan' earlier. So I'm
familiar with his working style. Shankar shoots for about 15
days, leaves an equal gap, and then goes for the next schedule.
We took just 65 days to shoot the talkie of 'Sivaji'. There are
five fights and five songs. And we took 120 days to shoot them.
The post-production work came to about three months. If you ask
me, I think Shankar is one of the most focused and fastest
directors I've worked with. While on the sets he will talk only
about the film. He's never grim or tensed, quiet maybe, as his
whole thoughts are centered on the film.
Did you get to see the lighter side of
him...?
 Often!
When he is out of the sets he's very jovial. We discuss a
variety of topics. And when we all join for lunch he's talking
about the food. Like the food in different restaurants we have
visited. While shooting at Kochi we never fail to visit 'Thattu
Kadai' a small café where the food is delicious. There is our
favourite haunt 'Konar Dosa' cafe in Madurai. We try out all the
places in Chennai or outside. And we have a good time
remembering and talking about the food at these places. It's
only that on the sets Shankar allows nothing to distract him.
Coming back to the Superstar...What was
the difference in shooting a Rajni film and a regular one?
In all my other films, the lighting,
composition and framing centered on the script. I've been more
selfish, but not here. Because this time it's all centerd on
Rajni. His face, his looks, emotions, expressions. Because
people come to see Rajni, most of my homework was centered on
that. I had to go for low angles, a wide lense and not the
regular flat lighting. But then again, it was a Shankar film
too, so the script couldn't be totally ignored either. It was
challenging for me, balancing these two aspects.
Rajni's more youthful, glamorous look is
being talked about. What was your effort in making him look good
on screen?
 Making
an actor look beautiful is easy. I could have used soft lighting
throughout and made him look beautiful all through. But then he
would have looked plastic and we may have lost out on the depth
and expressions on his face. I wanted to strike the right
balance between looks and performance. In the first half, the
character loses everything. And in the second he's trying to get
it back. There is a lot of emoting called for here. So in some
sequences I made him look good. And in the other I've tried to
put the right lighting and mood to capture his performance.
Which was the most difficult scene to
shoot?
 I
would say shooting the song number 'Sahana'. Thotta Tharani had
designed a huge lavish set of a palace with waterfalls and rain
forests on either sides. It was at Ramoji Rao Film City,
Hyderabad. The whole set was made of glass. And shooting round
glass is tricky and difficult for any cinematographer. We had to
cover ourselves with black bed sheets and take double care, that
our reflections didn't fall on the glass. But the final result
was worth the effort.
And what feedback have you got for your
work?
Shankar said it's more than what he'd
expected. Rajni, while dubbing, remarked that the camera
movements were so professional that he didn't feel it's presence
even once. He also expressed his happiness over the way he
looked. Saravanan and Guhan too complimented me. They said, 'We
can see your effort in each frame, and it's worth every pie we
have spent'.
Malini Mannath
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