Twenty years in the film industry is a long time and every technician needs to do something to beat monotony. R Rathnavelu will wield the megaphone once Syee Raa Narasimha Reddy finishes. It will be an action thriller and of course a Telugu movie. He makes this announcement to us while sharing his experience working for Rangasthalam. Tamil films have taken a back seat, he has made Hyderabad his home but the move is not deliberate. “After Linga I have been working on Telugu films continuously. I have been offered many good Tamil movies and whenever I see someone in the flight they ask me when I will be doing a Tamil film. Movies have no language barrier and the projects that I do here are really good and I like all the people I work with over here. It started with Arya in 2004. Sukumar told the producer that budget is secondary, get me Rathnavelu. He had seen my Sethu and Nanda . That time I had five hits in a row in Tamil.”
Script selection
Sukumar apparently had two scripts — one, a village and the other a city based story. When he was in a dilemma, Rathnavelu suggested the former as Sukumar had already worked on Nanaku Prema Tho, Nenokkadine based in London. Then Rangasthalam happened. “I wasn’t new to the Godavari belt when we embarked on Rangasthalam . We have been watching it for umpteen years. I didn’t want to show the same visuals, the beautiful river, the blue sky and the fields. I told Sukumar that we should capture Godavari in summer when it becomes deep brown and the sky doesn’t look blue and one gets to see its rustic beauty. No one tried it so far and I was keen on it. The village looked glossy in Satamanam Bhavati , the natural beauty is there anyways, why make it look more beautiful? I thus tried shooting in harsh sun light. In April and May, the river appears dry and sand looks burnt. People haven’t seen Godavari in this angle, in an angry mood. The same river looks different, romantic if the treatment is different. Tone wise, if it is a period film, people de-saturate the colour, I didn’t go for that. I wanted a vibrant young feel and at the same time, we planned costume and background colour in such a way that it blends with the film,” he says.
Many actors have commented that Rathnavelu makes them look out of the world and infuses lot of confidence with his visuals. Point it out to him, he concurs without sounding pompous. “I study the face. Many cinematographers light up the frame, they don’t study the face. They think the frame contrast, beauty, back light magic works. I cover the flaws. Expressions have to come out right while looking pretty right? Aishwarya Rai was in her 30s when she did Robot and she said it was a privilege to be shot by me.
Right equation
“How does a DoP and the director sustain the equation?Rathnavelu says, despite aa clichéd statement, the relationship is similar to that of a husband and a wife. He avers, “In a project you have to work closely with the director, sometimes he falters and you need to bring him into the groove. It is a mutual respect that works too. I listen to the script and read it thrice separately.”
Aishwarya Rai was in her 30s when she did ‘Robot’ and she said it was a privilege to be shot by me
Rathnavelu doesn’t do too many films, he has been doing one film at a time since long and gives the project his heart and soul. He has been associated with big banners most of the time and it has added to his advantage. But do producers compensate when he loses out on projects due to the prolonged shoot of a film?
He observes, “ Rangasthalam was supposed to finish by July. They said Nenokkadine will be a seven-month project but it took two years. I did it for the love for Sukumar and his movie. The producers to some extent compensate. Numbers don’t matter to me and after ten years I want people to remember my film. Yes, I am working with big banners but I did small films too initially. I did a small film Sethu that ran for a year. Sethu and Nandha had good content and Vikram, Suriya became big heroes with those movies. When you become famous, you get bigger heroes and they respect your value and time,” he says and adds, “I don’t use too many lights, unless content demands, why use lights when there is ambient light?”
Rathnavelu informs he regularly updates his skill by reading American Cinematographer and had travelled a lot attending workshops, and his years of working in the industry has helped. He agrees that the digital platforms like Amazon and Netflix demand a content with high resolution. The market has picked up and people are spending money to get good quality. On his part he ensures complacency doesn’t set into his lifestyle.
He adds, “After Robot’ s release, I thought I should take a break and specialise in 3D. Indian films don’t have that and later I realised there are no qualified directors who understand the technology to guide us. I didn’t want to move to Bollywood and never had a fetish to go there. When I did Sethu , Salman called me for Tere Naam . I didn’t want to do that all over again. After Robot release, Aamir also wanted me there. It’s not that I don’t like to work in Hindi films, but I’m paid well and happy here. May be I should do world cinema. I had an opportunity once but I missed it because of my packed schedule.” Finally ask him about the limitations he faces and he says stress is immense. His wife has been telling him to take six months break between each film. “. Whenever I am stressed, I just step away 50 feet, take deep breath and get back to work. I am someone with a cool head, Rajini sir keeps saying, ‘I want to see you angry one day’,” he laughs.
