Opinion

Sensation wth the moviecam

You’ve done Subhash Ghai’s Pardes and Taal. Interestingly you won awards for both.

He belongs to a family of cinematographers. With his outstanding work in Subhash Ghai’s Taal and Rakesh Roshan’s Kaho Na... Pyar Hai Kabir Lal has really and truly come into his own. There’s a clamour for his glorious brand of celluloid glamour. But Kabir is taking it easy. He won’t lend his talents to more than one project at a time even though the temptation to spread one’s talents thin in the film industry is great. Shy and hesitant to sell himself, Kabir Lal is learning the tricks of the trade slowly. A born learner, he describes the process of creating his poetry in motion in halting, hesitant words...

That’s right. I won the SCREEN-Videocon award for Pardes and the Filmfare award for Taal. Shooting Taal was tough. We had to shoot in real rain for a little song. Subhashji was adamant about shooting in a particular weather to capture a certain mood. It was a big challenge shooting in real rain. The entire unit was equipped with raincoats and umbrellas and we trudged to Khandala.

That isn’t the Khandala we see in other films. Do you think cinematographers are finally getting the recognition they deserve?
I do. Nowadays you hear the public discussing the finer points of a film’s cinematography. Today the sound and visuals have become as essential as the music and performances. I think cinematographers in India need to become increasingly innovative. The stories in our films are basically the same. The sound and visuals are where the changes come in. In the South there’s a lot of scope for innovation, and cinematographers are doing a wonderful job out there.

You have done a lot of very creative work in the south, haven’t you?
That’s right. Specially with Singeetham Srinivas Rao. I did four or five films with him. One was a Kamal Haasan starrer called Michael Madana Kamarajan. In the film Kamala Haasan played four characters. There were lots of special effects in it. We did them all on camera. We used to shoot all four characters live (laughs). Even as late as six years ago when this film was made I was working under daunting technical conditions.

Are film units in the South more disciplined than in Mumbai?
They are, actually. An average film in the South is completed in three months. They have a small market and they cannot go beyond that. In Hindi, films can drag their feet for three to four years. In the interim the plot grows state and the ideas become redundant. The josh with which the project is started is lost in the delay. The end-product becomes listeners. In the South they complete all the shooting at one stretch, so that everybody is charged throughout. That’s the main difference between the working atmosphere here in Mumbai and there in the south. But even here there’s no problem working with someone like Subhashji. His Taal was completed in ten months, and so was Rakeshji’s Kaho Naa... Pyar Hai.

Subhash Ghai and Rakesh Roshan are completely different kinds of directors.
Yes, but I enjoyed working with both. I’m also working with Satish Kaushik for his Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai. Earlier I had shot Satish Kaushik’s Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain. All these are -different filmmakers with differing visions and requirements.

I believe you come from a family of cinematographers?
Yes. I’m from Chenai. My dad was also a cinematographer. He shot around sixty fims in the south. I tried to get a place in the Pune Film Institute to learn cinematography. To my disappointment I couldn’t get in. Then I joined my dad. He wanted me to be trained at an institute but since I didn’t secure a seat I started assisting him. With my dad I shot around ten films before he expired. I wasn’t experienced or confident enough to branch out on my own.

So what did you do?
Luckily my father’s friend who was a director gave me my first break as an independent cinematographer. I was only 24 at that time. It was a Malayalam film called Kartavya.

Let’s stop a moment. Tell me how did you convince a filmmaker to give you a chance as an independent cinematographer.
I just got lucky, I guess. The director who gave me the break had been associated with my dad for thirty or forty films. Out of his feelings for my father he decided to take a risk with me. He had seen me working with my dad, so I suppose he knew what I was capable of. Now I’m approximately 80 films old.

Was it difficult for you to break into Hindi cinema?
It was very difficult. Initially I came to Mumbai just to do patchwork shooting for Lawrence D’Souza’s Saajan and Rang. I shot ad films for Mukul Anand as well. I also did some patchwork shooting for Mukul Anand’s Trimurti. But I never got a chance to meet Subhash Ghai during Trimurti. However he had seen my work. One fine day he rang me up in Chennai and said he wanted to sign me up for Paradise. It was a bolt from the blue.

Was it because he had worked with redoubtable cinematographers like Ashok Mehta in the past?
Yes but in Pardes he said he wanted to work with a new team. Since Anil Kapoor and others knew me I suppose I must have been recommended to Subhashji. He called me to Mumbai and I gladly accepted the offer.

Was it smooth sailing with Subhash Ghai from the start?
Not quite. Initially I shot for him without signing a formal contract. He just wanted to try me out. After our first schedule in Agra he saw the rushes, and called me over to say he was disappointed by the results. He bluntly told me my work wasn’t in league with what’s expected in his films.

That must have crushed your confidence.
It came as a very big shock to me. You see, the rushes hadn’t been fully processed, I asked Subhashji to give me a few days. Icollected the shot portions and then returned to him.

What is colour collection?
It’s when you sit at the monitor and the negative is reflected on the monitor. Then you can determine what specific colours you want and need. You can experiment with the colours accordingly. This is the normal procedure with all films. This is what I did in Pardes. After colour-collecting I was hopeful again. When Subhashji saw the rushes after the colour collection he was pleased. His approval meant a lot to me. I was replacing a very big cinematographer in his unit. If anything went wrong my career in Mumbai would have been over even before it started. His approval gave my career in Hindi cinema a big boost.
Your work in Pardes was outstanding.

Thanks. We did a lot of interiors denoting foreign countries in Mumbai. Nobody believed we had created those sets in India. The song Meri mehbooba with Shah Rukh was done right here in Mumbai. It was very tough to match the indoor sets with the outdoors that we had shot abroad. To give a realistic look I used white and yellow light.

Which one was tougher to shoot, Pardes or Taal?
Both were equally challenging in their own ways. There were lots of locations to be covered in Taal. We had to wait for the weather changes. I was constantly experimenting with the rushes in the lab.
You’ve been the cameraman for two recent hits Taal and Kaho Na...
Pyaar Hai. Has the Hindi film industry begun to look at you with new respect?

(laughs) I don’t think there’s any remarkable change. Everyone has appreciated my work in these films. People have noticed that Pardes, Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain, Taal and Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai were all shot me and they were all hits. But I don’t believe in getting superstitiuos about such things.

You may not believe in such things. But filmmakers must be eager to sign a hit cameraman.
Actually there’s no room for filmmakers to take me on. Subhashji’s next film Yaadein is ready to roll. There’s no scope for me to do other films. You’re right, unlike the stars I can’t do two and three shifts a day (laughs).

Would you like to remain Subhash Ghai’s exclusive cinematographer?
I’d like that. But I don’t mind working with other talented directors. During Taal Rakeshji insisted that I shoot Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai. He agreed to plan his shooting schedules according to my free dates. Now I’ll be completely taken up with Yaadein. I want to shoot just one film at a time. There’s one more film on the floor Boney Kapoor’s Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai. But that’ll be completed shortly. After that there’ll be just Yaadein Yaadein and more Yaadein.

There’s been an influx of talented cinematographers from the south, like Santosh Sivan, Ravi Chandran, WB Rao and you. How do you explain this?
I think Mumbai filmmakers suddenly woke up to ‘The Look’ of their films. Now directors are willing to let cameramen break the rules and that’s exactly where we come in. We south Indian cameramen love to break rules.

Which are the cinematographers you admire?
I like Ashok Mehta the best. He’s my favourite. And I also like the work of Santosh Sivan, PC Sriram and Binod Pradhan. In Hollywood I’m a big fan of Vittorio Storaro who did films like Dick Tracy and Little Buddha. I just love the way he lights up the screen. I try to follow his style. Like me Storaro goes into a lot of experimentation at the lab stage.

Santosh Sivan feels the Hollywood cinematographers have a great techical advantage over their Indian counterparts?
That’s true. Our equipment is almost antique. What we use now was used in Hollywood in the late 60s and 70s. Indian filmmakers cannot afford the kitest cinematographic equipments. Some South Indian filmmakers are now buying them in order to compete in the international market. I feel for the last two or three years the equipment is being updated, and I’m sure in the next two or three years this trend will continue. I feel we have some terrific technicians in India.

Do you have to constantly improvise and make the best of whatever is available to meet Hollywood standards?
I follow the Hollywood style carefully. In every shot I make sure there’s something special. When I started out I used special filters for the saturated effect. I personally went to the lab and supervised the processing. I was always ready to venture into new areas of cinematography. I don’t say I’ve achieved anything much. I still have a lot of work to do.

Like Santosh Sivan do you have plans of directing your own film?
No, directing a film isn’t an easy job.

Shooting a film isn’t an easy job either.
(Laughs) A director has to be an actor, a cameraman and a dialogue writer. He has to play all the roles together. Even Santosh urged me to direct a film. I appreciate his work. But I’m not ready to make the transition as yet. I don’t think I can shoulder the trauma.

Are cinematographers well paid in India?
A hundred per cent. They are well-played

Not well-played but well-paid.
That as well (laughs). Not extremely well-paid but good enough. The ones who are really good and in search of good money do ad films. If cinematographers were paid better the quality of work in our cinema would improve.

I beg to disagree. I don’t think the quality of cinematography suffers on accouunt of the fee.
I’ll have to agree with you (laughs). I stopped shooting ads after Mukul Anand. If I get into that I’ll never be able to shoot feature films. But I’m sure the remuneration and equipment will improve very soon.

Where will you go to after Subhash Ghai’s Yaadein?
That will take at least ten months. After that, we’ll see. May be I’ll just let my brothers take the forefront. Yes Basha Lal who shot Mann is my younger brother. My other brother Jonny Lal shoots Tamil and Telugu films. He also shoots for second and third units of Hindi films. And my third brother Aamir Lal assists me.

That must be a new world record!
Yeah, must be (laughs). Even my cousin is a cinematographer on television in Hyderabad. Another cousin and his wife are also cinematographers. We’re all like one big family equipped with an inbuilt lens.

Subhash K Jha