In conversation – Harisankar Kartha with Deepu.S.Unni who won the National Award for the Best Cinematographer in the non-feature film segment..

A fter the red carpet welcome at Los Angeles to Mr.Resul Pookkutty, making the far away villagers in the remote Kerala spell bound, it was then, Deepu.S.Unni’s turn to make the Kerala villages lift their eyebrows in wonder through his ‘spell’. When the 57^th National Film Awards declared, Kerala has been riveting its chair once again at the pinnacle of aesthetics, by winning 13 awards. Like Mr.Pookkutty, Deepu also brought the award to Kerala for the Best Cinematographer for a non-Malayalam work –“Gaarud’, a Marathi short film meaning ‘The Spell’.

‘Gaarud’, a 12 minute short film portraying the glimpses of grimy lives of some people who were caught in a frame of a shady room in a lodge, has bagged a number of awards prior to this national recognition. In the form of a long tracking shot, Deepu and Umesh Kulkarni (the director) were taking the viewers into their grubby routines behind the door.

Born in Chettikulangara, a small village near Mavelikara, rustic lives, at any cost, can ever be a shot outside Deepu’s mindscape. Majored in Science and Education, he couples his works with a teacher-student chemistry in its close shots. A studentship at the Film and Television Institute of India, a long-cherished dream when roped into his life, he was getting an edge to what he was searching for.

Deepu talks with Harisankar Kartha about his creating certain kind of realities that the director’s vision of the written scenario…creating something which influence the thinking of millions of people…his musing over the old Malayalam melodies and their visuals conceptualized inside a tender heart…the victorious journeys of ‘Gaarud’ through his strong visual potentials….

About your transformation from a Master of Education to a Cinematographer…

It was after several consecutive attempts that I could get into the FIIT. As my parents were not with me in pursuing my dreams, I had to pick up Science, B Ed and M Ed in the usual track of a son from a middle class family. But when I began to take classes there I got good appreciations. Even then I was pondering over my dreams and was trying to get an admission in FIIT.

That means your parents were against your coming into the cinema field..?

We cannot blame them for thinking like that. It is the usual set up of a middle class family here. What they see their children are ‘secured’ is nothing but getting a government job. After that getting married, taking children to school, coming back from office at sharp 5, going to bed before 9 after making sure that all the doors and windows are well-locked, waking up with sun, getting milk for the bed coffee… This is the accustomed track through which an ordinary person to be traveled. Any deviation from this tight schedule may debase his status-quo in the community. My parents also were not different.

Then, one more thing is, we really lacked this much exposure as we enjoy today. At that time the concept of a common man about cinema was not so good. That generation somehow liked to believe that the field itself would ruin the character of a person if he got into it.

 Coming to ‘Gaarud’, your camera works have been justifying with every streak of expressions in the scenario. Is it an innate talent or a ‘built-up’ one in FIIT?

I have been facing a question that how I became interested in Cinematography. But I don’t have a clear-cut answer to give. Similarly, I do not have any preoccupations or paper works before a shot. Director explains the theme and mood of the shot to be canned, then I work out a frame inside and seep it into the camera. I never decide from which side, with how much intensity one frame to be shot.. it comes naturally as my visual experience inside. Obviously, there will be confusion in the first take while adjusting the light. Then I will turn to God and it will be okay thenceforth.

We see the briskly varying expressions when the camera moves from the textile vendors to the prostitutes….

Yes, it is the same room, but characters and their ambience change. Meanwhile one suicide has to be shown and it should be in a dull manner so as to instigate the emotions as such. So we have selected a late evening for its canning. But the prostitute comes in the scene at night. To make it realistic to the errand, we had had a hard-core co-ordination and team work with a clear note of perception — the Director Umesh Kulkarni, the sound designer and every one behind the camera.  We teamed up after a solid discussion before one month itself to reproduce the whole ambience through right light and shade..

After watching the completed movie I just broke out. I felt it as if I have done something not up to the mark. But I got more positive receptions from those who were not involved with this project.

 By God’s grace..? Especially your Chettikulangara Bhagavathy…?

(Smiling) Yes..we are being drifted along by some intuitions..

Has the trained teacher inside you intervened while you wield the camera…Your camera intrudes into the minute details as if in a teacher-student chemistry..

May be. Someone from FIIT also commented like this. Yes..I’m more lenient towards close-ups .It is the way I used to observe people and everything around, with its entire diminutives indulged in. It is purely subconscious.

In ‘Gaarud.”, the scene in which  the soda glass is thrown  on to the wall, we see the surface of the wall as being cracked with all the tiny split lines..

 This is where we see the mutually complementing chemistry between a director and cinematographer. Director (Umesh Kulkarni) has already told me about the emphasis to be given to the texture of the wall. So I need to change the lenses accordingly and it was difficult at that particular point where there was hardly any chance for a character shift. Otherwise I would have to shift the focus which may affect the mood of the situation. So after discussing with the Art Director, we put an extra wall to have a susceptible feel.

You have been selected to the prestigious Budapest Cinemaography Maseterclass in Hungary last year as a scholar that too as the first Indian to get such a rare opportunity. How do you see this episode?

It was a great experience to learn under many Oscar winners there. They are knowledge-rich and I was really fortunate to be trained under them. Selected young talents from different parts of the globe attended the seminar and working with them was also a kind of sharing knowledge.

Currently you are concentrating in short films. Can you share your experiences in this field?

I perceive it as a stepping stone towards the realm of Feature Films. Both of them will have differences when we spot it through a director’s angle. But, for me, the basic grammar of the camera is same in both. More over, as a beginner, I feel comfortable doing short films.

Your works carry a stamp of your own, keeping in pace with a specific standard. Do you wish to share this credit with your director?

When you see a beautifully constructed house, you will appreciate the architect. But what would have happened if the carpenter fails to do his part properly?

Why don’t’ you try for a directorial venture?

To be a director, one needs an extra thump of conceptualization along with a strong power of conception and perception. Creating an ad to conceive a big idea within 10 seconds is not an easy thing. Sometimes, I can make it with 10 minutes as I know about shots as being trained in Film Institute.

 What about your entering into Malayalam, your native language?
It was not the world class films but the Malayalam films that created an interest in me and I really want to start my career with the Malayalam film industry.

On getting into Malayalam Film Industry, what will be your contribution to it as a cinematographer?

I would ever claim my film conveys a message for the sake of the society. Like every one, I also work for my bread and butter. But, as a doctor, as an engineer, I am also a professional, so any of my work will have that professional touch meaning a commitment to the society. My work should be appreciated by the common man; otherwise I won’t have a space here. Work satisfaction will be complete only if the viewer’s satisfaction is added to it. Even if I came into Malayalam, my stand will be the same; the message to the society may be a by-product of my professionalism plus personal contentment.

Malyalam Film Industry bears a specific categorization  in its technical sector also . If it is an off-beat with a chorus of intellectuals behind the screen, the lot falls upon M.J.Radhakrishnan and like. So in which category would you like to join?

(Smiling) The term ‘intellectual’ brings me the name of Radhakrishnan Sir. Anyways, I won’t like to join with any such categorization.

How do you see the Malayalam Film Industry abuzz with internal politics?

It is a trap.(Smiling). I don’t know much about the politics within the industry. What I hear about it through the media is not seemed to be healthy.

If you come to Malayalam, with which director would you like to work with?

I will give you a long list of names with no priorities. No first or second preference, Adoor sir, Lal Jose, Ranjith, RoshanAndrews, Priyanandanan….and so on. I have nurtured a special interest with Priyanandanan because, he is a self-made director. He owns no basic education about film making. I adore his fortitude.

I wish to begin with any of these directors.

You have spotted Lal Jose next to Adoor. Both of them are poles apart in film making. Do you think you can conceive both in the same track?

If it is of the disparities I adore Santhosh Sivan the most as a Guru. He got the national recognition for the first time through the Malayalam classic ‘Perunthachhan’. The second time he gets the same award for the commercial hit ‘Dil Se’. I told him once that I am jealous of you..

Heard that film makers are more superstitious than the ordinary people. I see a lot of rosaries and holy threads around your arms..

Even before becoming a film maker all these were here — From the temples of Chettikulangara, my family temple, Mookambika temple. I have my own personal beliefs and positive impacts glued to all of these.  My educational and professional routes were got cleared only after the blessings from Panachikkadu and Mookambika deities. I am an ardent believer of God.

Coming to back to the National Award.. how was its impact on your parents?

They are quiet happy to know it as any other parents …

You must have bombarded with a lot of offers from several languages after this award. What is your decision?

Not much. Some directors have shown interest to work with me. It is an ongoing process. After all, this is cinema..let us wait and see..

Contentment..?

Relatively…. Because, delays irritate me.

Your dream project..?

Let me stand upright for a dream. It is yet to be born.

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