A cinematographer brings to life the vision of the director. Having learnt the nuances of the art from none other than the talented K. V. Anand, protégé S. Soundar Rajan is now well on his way to success. The assistant took on his first independent assignment with Sukhran, and has since done a dozen films, the most recent being Isai.
“Anand is my mentor and, to some extent, knows what to expect from me. During my days with him, I had to devise camera angles based on his needs. He is someone who demands perfection and to match up to him was quite a challenge. But it gave me a lot more experience than what I gained during my internship with him,” says Soundar.
He is busy completing the cinematography for Jayam Ravi-Hansika starrer Romeo Juliet. “S. J. Suryah is also a perfectionist and will go to any length to get a scene right. To lend authenticity to some scenes, he built an elaborate set on a hill in Kodaikanal, which was very difficult to access and shoot from. In contrast, Romeo Juliet is a breeze. A romcom with two good-looking actors (who come together again after Engeyum Kaadhal), the film is glossy, colourful and stylish."
Soundar talks of one of the highlights, an emotional scene shot inside a moving car with Ravi and Hansika inside. "I had to shoot it from every possible angle and, given the restricted space inside, it was quite challenging."
Another highlight was a song sequence shot at night at the Kasimedu harbour. "The pathway was just six feet wide — within that we had to have lights, props and dancers in addition to the camera trolley."
The film has Jayam Ravi playing a T. Rajendar fan and the opening shot has him dancing to an excellent song by D. Imman. "We shot that song in all the important landmarks of Chennai,” says Soundar, who uses a Red Dragon camera.
After Romeo Juliet, Soundar will be doing director Sampath Nandi’s Telugu film, Bengal Tiger, with Ravi Teja in the lead. After that, he plans to follow Anand’s footsteps and become a director. True disciple, this.