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View of a lifetime: Cinematographer Ravivarman

Kamal plays ten characters in the film. “I don’t think I can work on such a mammoth project again. I could go into depression or have my pressure levels touch dangerous levels,” laughs Ravivarman. He is still to get out of the tension which has been with him from the first day of shoot, which was almost two years ago. “‘Dasavathaaram’ isn’t a film where you do the lighting, pan, tilt or zoom, shoot and move on,” Ravi begins to explain. Lighting had to match the skin tone of the character. Only soft lights were used to maintain the glow of the make-up, which would invariably begin to loosen up in half an hour’s time. Accordingly, the lighting had to be constantly adjusted. In fact, lighting was Ravi’s real challenge. A new character (in a different make-up) would have to be included in a scene shot a few days earlier and yet another character even two months later. Hence the position of the camera, the lighting, tone and the mood of the scene shot at first had to be remembered and replicated to a T. “And they were activity shots that had lots of people. So the lighting for them had to be noted too,” he sighs. He has used jimmy jib, akela crane, motion control and handle shots, all in one scene but the viewer wouldn’t know, “because the transition will be smooth and imperceptible,” he assures.

There was this car chase which included a helicopter, with Kamal Haasan at the helm of the sequence. It was shot at night in Florida. “Ideally, the entire city ought to have been lighted up for it. But as it couldn’t be done, I went ahead with the available lighting. It was all dark when I looked through the lens. But experience told me we would get the required effect. They were anxious moments, because if the effort had gone awry re-shooting the portion would have been impossible,” recalls Ravi.

‘Dasavathaaram’ isn’t like other dual or triple role films, where the camera could afford to remain static now and then. It is an actioner with the style and sheen of a Hollywood flick. “List 10 of the best action films of Hollywood, and ‘Dasavathaaram’ would easily match them in quality,” says Ravivarman.

Moscowvin Cauvery, his directorial debut

CG is over, and it is Ravivarman’s turn again to complete the DI (Digital Intermediate), which in common parlance means colour correction of the film.

Ravivarman’s oeuvre spells variety. Winning an international award for his second film, ‘Santham,’ in Malayalam, he went on to work in Priyadarshan’s ‘Kilichundan Mambazham’ “Priyan is a visual filmmaker and a delight to work with,” reminisces Ravi.

Then came Honey Irani’s ‘Armaan’ which had Amitabh, Anil Kapoor, Preity Zinta and Gracy Singh in the lead, his Tamil debut ‘Five Star’ with Mani Ratnam’s production house, Revathy’s ‘Phir Milenge’ starring Salman Khan and Shilpa Shetty, Cheran’s ‘Autograph,’ Shankar’s ‘Anniyan’ and Gautam Menon’s ‘Vaettaiyaadu Vilayaadu.’

“Each has contributed to my growth. It was the experience with Shankar that got me ‘VV.’ Getting to know Vikram was a bonus. He is the Russell Crowe of our cinema. Gautam gave me much freedom in ‘VV’ and the result was the ‘Dasavathaaram’ opportunity. ‘Anniyan,’ ‘Dasavathaaram’ and my directorial debut, ‘Moscowvin Cauvery,’ are all made by Oscar Films,” says Ravi.

“Every cameraman has a director inside him waiting to come out. Oscar Films’ Ramesh Babu gave me the chance. It’s a romantic tale with a strong screenplay.” New faces, Rahul Ravindran, model Yashodha and Y.Gee.Mahendra’s son Harsha play pivotal roles. Harsha was working as an assistant director with the ‘Dasavathaaram’ unit when Ravivarman noticed him. “Initially he was hesitant. But he’s doing a great job in ‘Moscowvin …’ We wrap up shoot in May. S.S.Thaman, one of Shankar’s ‘Boys’ is the composer. I’ve sung a song in the film. I’m learning music, he smiles as he plays the song for you.”

Ravivarman’s next cinematography assignment is for director Prabhu Deva, who teams up with Vijay again after ‘Pokkiri.’ “I admire Vijay a lot — his humility in particular,” says Ravi.

The much-awaited Kamal Haasan extravaganza, Dasavathaaram.

Getting topical once again he notes: “Only an astute director like K.S. Ravikumar can make a spectacle such as ‘Dasavathaaram’ in such a short span, and only a producer like ‘Oscar’ Ravichandran can accomplish a project on this scale.”

Every frame of ‘Dasavathaaram’ is a result of careful planning, industry and execution. “Things were easy because Kamal Haasan knows cinematography well and was clear about what he wanted. Director K.S.Ravikumar would quickly understand Kamal’s point and explain it to me. My job was to execute it to their satisfaction,” says Ravi and with a chuckle adds: “When the whole world is eagerly waiting to watch ‘Dasavathaaram,’ I was the first to see it. That’s a great feeling indeed!”

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