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Photo: S. James

Down to earth A keen observer

“After my studies, I came to Chennai in pursuit of employment. Though I had the inclination towards photography I did not pay much attention to nurture the talent. But once I realised the opportunity ahead I grabbed it with both hands,” Velraj narrates how he entered filmdom after pursuing his studies at Sourashtra College in Madurai.

He got introduced to popular cinematographer Thiru and from there began his film career. He worked as an apprentice and then as assistant in films including “Hey Ram” (Tamil), “The Legend of Bhagat Singh”, “Champion” and “Hungama” (Hindi).

“I was the assistant for nine other movies after which my guru asked me to carry on my own. In fact, I was not for it. But it was he who compelled me to handle camera individually and got me the chance of working with Dhanush in “Parattai Engira Azhagusundaram”. With no other film in hand, in fact I was contemplating on quitting films and settling down in my hometown. But then “Pollathavan” happened totally altering my career graph,” Velraj blushes.

Though “Parattai” did not do well at the box office, Velraj’s camera work impressed Dhanush and paved the way for his meeting with “Pollathavan” director Vetrimaran.

Generally the choice of selecting crew lies with a director, especially if the film happens to be his maiden attempt. For, a director would have his own views and would expect a crew on which he can bank on. But in my case, Dhanush recommended me to Vetrimaran and magnanimously, the director accepted to ‘experiment’. I am happy that I have been able to justify Dhanush’s and Vetrimaran’s confidence in me,” he says almost with a quiver in his voice.

Velraj’s exemplary work in Pollathavan earned him encomiums from stalwarts like Balu Mahendra and K.V. Anand. He still cherishes the moment when his guru Thiru called him to congratulate.

“Going through the storyline, I sensed the raw feel of the film and hence decided on the usage of yellow colour. The shooting was mostly during the night to avoid complications normally associated with day time shooting. Most portions were shot at live locations and not in the sets. The shooting used to start around midnight and go upto dawn. It finally helped as the story revolves around a middle class boy’s tussle with the underworld don,” he says.

Velraj is simply thrilled about his experience with Vetrimaran in Pollathavan. “There were several challenging sequences, especially the climax scenes, where we used the high speed Photosonic cameras, which can capture up to 500 frames per second. It has been well received in Kollywood.”

Buoyant with the success of Pollathavan, the film crew, which captured the essence of North Chennai, is now working on its next movie, which proposes to bring out the salient features of places in and around Madurai. Of course, it goes without saying that Velraj is an integral part of the team.

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