Shehnad Jalal rarely watches horror movies. Quite an irony since the cinematographer has cranked the camera for two of the most talked-about Malayalam movies in the genre – Bhoothakalam (2022) and Bramayugam, Mammootty’s horror thriller in black and white, which is now having a dream run at the box office.
“People are curious to know how and why we shot it in black and white. Even though black-and-white movies are regularly being made in Hollywood, that doesn’t happen often in Indian cinema. In Malayalam, we have Don Palathara who shot his first three movies in black and white,” says Shehnad, who received the Kerala State Film Award for best cinematography for his first film, Chitrasuthram (2010).
A still from Bramayugam | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Bramayugam, directed by Rahul Sadasivan, unfolds in a crumbling mana (mansion), where the formidable Koduman Potty (Mammootty) stays with his cook (Sidharth Bharathan). Thevan (Arjun Ashokan), a singer from a ‘lower caste’, seeks refuge there.
Touch of nostalgia
Shehnad says that black-and-white frames have a nostalgic element about them. “When we study cinematography, the initial lessons are in black-and-white medium. At the institute [Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute from where he did his post-graduation], we do shoots in black and white when we start studying lighting, exposure and other aspects of cinematography. I remember developing black-and-white film rolls when I used to do still photography. Besides that, most of the classics I have seen are black-and-white movies,” he points out.
Shehnad says that Rahul had pitched Bramayugam as a black-and-white movie to him even before he narrated the story! “He shared the idea with me while we were shooting Bhoothakalam [Rahul’s second film]. I had made black-and-white short films during my studies and had done a music video ‘Funeral Of A Native Son’ for Muhsin Parari. What excited me about Bramayugam was that not many filmmakers of the present era would choose to shoot a film in black and white. It is a fact that the horror becomes pronounced if we watch it in black and white. Moreover, we had a producer who was excited about the project. At one point, we had decided to shoot the movie in film and had arranged for the film rolls. But we had to drop that plan because there are no labs to process the rolls,” Shehnad says.
Talking about the technical aspects of the process, Shehnad explains that the settings of the camera is changed to black-and-white mode. So everyone in the crew saw it in black and white. “None of us, including me, has seen Bramayugam in colour.”
A still from Bramayugam | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
After an extensive pre-production phase, they did a test shoot of one of the scenes. “I took a lot of photographs of the artists’ positions on the set before the shoot started,” he says.
While the exterior shots of the mana are of Olappamanna Mana, the interiors are of Varikkassery Mana, both in Palakkad district. “The actual locations went for an incredible makeover at the hands of the art director [Jothish Shankar] and his team. Some of the scenes were shot on sets constructed in a studio. We walked into new sets after every one or two days; it was like entering into a different world,” says Shehnad.
He mentions that the climax sequence was exciting as well as challenging. The floor had to be lit up, but they had to maintain the darkness as well. While shooting in black and white, it is important to keep the correct contrast level, he adds.
Texture was added to the properties on the set like walls and pillars since such surfaces stand out in black-and-white frames. In the case of costumes, which were kept minimal, they were given a brownish tinge to enhance the unkempt look of the characters.
“We softened the lighting for rain sequences. We even got real rain in some of the scenes shot outside the mana. Creating the rainy mood inside the rooms was not easy, especially showing rain drops dripping into the rooms through the ceilings,” he says.
Movie buff
A native of Thiruvananthapuram, Shehnad says that he got hooked to cinema because of the film societies in the city. “I never missed out on any film festival happening in the city. Still photography was also a passion,” says Shehnad who started out as an associate to cinematographer Venu before he became independent with Chitrasuthram. A member of the Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC), his other works include Ee Adutha Kalathu, Left Right Left, Kanyaka Talkies, and Kamala.
Having handled horror in two films, we wonder if there is a formula to bring it on screen? “(Laughs) What I do is create the darkness. A lot of other factors come into play to make it eerie, such as sound design, editing, performances etc. When I started working on Bhoothakalam, I had my doubts about how to go about it. But I once finished shooting the first scene in the movie – the grandmother walking slowly into a room, with her white hair let loose – I knew I was on track. The mood was created with the aid of lighting.”
Mammootty in Bramayugam | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The difference between Bhoothakalam and Bramayugam, he adds, is that while he had to deal with a small space in the former, in Bramayugam there were lot of rooms and each of them had a character and look.
Bramayugam is Shehnad’s first independent project with Mammootty. “During rehearsals we would just discuss the positions. But when he actually did the take, I was shocked. He became another person and the transformation was unbelievable. Once I finished the shot, I often wondered what had happened in front of the camera. Thanks to his experience, I didn’t have to tell him anything in detail. He knew about camera position, focus and related aspects and so it was easy for us to execute the shots,” he says. One of his favourite scenes of the actor is the game of dice between Mammootty and Arjun.
Having done two films with Rahul, Shehnad observes that he is one director who visualises everything while working on a story. “Instead of going for dialogues, he creates the mood through visuals. In Bramayugam, every shot was planned by him. Each scene had a file with pictures. After each day’s shoot, we would sit down for a recap of what we did. Since we went by a plan, we were happy with how thing panned out.”
Were they apprehensive about taking a black-and-white movie to the audience? “Not really. We were confident that we have created something new,” he says.
