Ever since the trailer release of Barfii , congratulatory messages have been pouring in for Ravivarman. “This is my 27th film and never have I received such an overwhelming response for a teaser,” he says. After a hiatus, Ravivarman returns as the cinematographer of the much-awaited Ranbir Kapoor-Priyanka Chopra-Ileana starrer, Barfii . “You seem to echo K.V. Anand’s words. ‘Just as we were wondering what you were up to, you’ve made us sit up and take notice,’ he told me,” laughs Ravivarman. “Such words from a brilliant lens man and one of our best commercial directors mean a lot to me.”
“I want a Korean-European tone and texture. I know you can do it,” Anurag Basu, the director of Barfii , had told him. “The confidence he reposed in me was touching. And when on the last day of shoot he said, ‘we should work together again Ravi,’ I realised I had lived up to his expectation,” Ravi sounds very happy.
Be it Vaettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu , Dasavatharam or Villu , Ravivarman’s output has always been visually elevating. The same goes for the Telugu film, Badrinath . Though it wasn’t a winner at the BO, Ravivarman’s work won accolades. “In the past three years, besides Barfii , I was behind the camera for nearly 500 commercials, 200 of which were shot in Mumbai. I’ve always been busy,” he clarifies.
“Every moment of the 140 days I spent working with the Barfii team will remain with me for long. For the first time I felt stress-free throughout. Not once did I have even a minor skirmish with Basu,” smiles the camera ace.
Basu is a perfectionist and is keen to offer viewers the best visual experience. So even if the colour of a part of a window on the set didn’t appeal to him, he’d walk up and down thoughtfully for a few minutes and turn round to tell Ravi, ‘Let’s re-shoot.’ Even if it meant a whole day’s work being re-done! “While shooting in Darjeeling the clouds would darken the sky, the Sun would suddenly shine bright and in a few moments it would pour! Every time Basu would caution, ‘Look out, Ravi it’s getting too dark’ or ‘It’s going to pour,’ and I would say, ‘It’s all right dada, we’ll continue.’ I consider such a kaleidoscope of changes in Nature’s beauty as an opportunity for me to showcase it,” he says.
Natural lighting is Ravivarman’s strength. “We lens men are taught to avoid flare and glare. But I’ve used a lot of both in Barfii ,” he says. Flare occurs when unwarranted light enters the lens and affects the appeal of a shot. Yet, when handled efficiently, it could also enhance the aesthetic element.
Ravi first began using natural light because his producers couldn’t afford generators and arc lights. But when he was able to do a fine job with it, he made it his mainstay.
Ask him about Ranbir Kapoor and he’s all smiles. “The unit was shooting in Kolkata, when a huge crowd had gathered in front of the hotel they were put up, to have a glimpse of the young Kapoor. They couldn’t. The next morning when the crew came out, 20 of them were still there! They had waited an entire night saying, ‘We’ve travelled 200 km just to see him. We’ll wait however long it takes.’ After Amitabh, Ranbir is an actor I like a lot.” Ravivarman was the cinematographer of the Amitabh Bachchan starrer, Armaan .
Again it’s encomiums galore for the heroines of Barfii , Priyanka and Ileana. “Basu has tapped their potential really well,” he says.
It’s rather puzzling that a perceptive person like him slipped when he took up direction. Moscowin Cauvery showed a gross error in judgment. He doesn’t agree. “If I wasn’t good at gauging the worth of my script, cast or crew, I wouldn’t have introduced a heroine [Samantha] who’s ruling the roost in Telugu today, or a composer [Thaman] who is highly successful. The truth is I couldn’t make the film I had envisaged. Calling it Moscowin Cauvery , I had to shoot it in Puducherry,” he shrugs. Ravi’s resilience is remarkable. “As a director, I’ll bounce back,” he says. “Sharmila, my wife, who’s been with me through my trials and triumphs, is my emotional anchor. I’m blessed,” he laughs.
I get back to Barfii . “I don’t expect you to reveal the story Ravi, but …” I begin. “But I can tell you it’s a romantic comedy — a real entertainer for all age groups. None can guess the story,” he says.
The next …
Ravivarman has already signed on the dotted line for his next project. The director is Sanjay Leela Bhansali. “It has been my dream to work with him. Surprisingly, all my dreams come true,” he says.
