Santosh Thundiyil speaks on life and movies
In a relatively short period after his graduation from the Film and Television Institute of India in 1994, Santosh Thundiyil has done a wide variety of films-from Kuch Kuch Hota to Pinjar, Waqt, Kaal and Krrish (to name a new), plus documentaries, commercials and Malayalam films. He is getting ready to shoot Kaal director Soham's next.
Besides working with renowned DOPs like Govind Nihalani and Venu, Santosh represented Asia in the workshop for student directors of photography held in Budapest, (organised by Kodak, Panavision and Cilect); trained under two Oscar-winning cinematographers Dean Cundey (Jurassic Park) and Billy Williams (Gandhi) in digital effects and lighting.
Starting his career with Sibi Malayil's Malayalam film Pranayavarnangal, he hit big time instantly with Karan Johar's Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, and since then has been nominated for, and won, several awards.
How
did
Karan
Johar
sign
you
for
Kuch
Kuch
Hota
Hai?
He
saw
a
few
rushes
of
a
film
that
was
never
released-it
was
being
directed
by
a
batchmate
of
mine.
He
must
have
liked
what
he
saw
because
he
signed
me.
So
Kuch
Kuch
Hota
Hai
was
my
first
Hindi
movie.
Coming
straight
from
the
Institute,
I
didn't
know
much
about
the
outside
world.
Karan
wanted
a
new
cameraman.
He
could
have
taken
any
body.
In
fact
I
asked
him
why
he
didn't
take
someone
like
Manmohan
Singh,
who
does
Yash
Chopra's
films.
He
said
he
wanted
a
younger
cameraman,
someone
he
could
communicate
with
better
and
who
could
give
him
more
time.
Initially I didn't want to live in Bombay, not because of anything else, but the living conditions. So crowded, and these kind of problems I was not able to face. I don't know why. Then I landed up here and started working here and now and loving it. But when I have free time I go to Kerala.
It
was
Karan's
first
film
too,
and
he
said
once
that
he
was
often
not
sure
where
to
place
the
camera.
He
said
that?
(Laughs).
He
must
have
been
joking..
But
everything
was
planned
so
well,
the
working
atmosphere
was
so
nice.
No
hassles,
peaceful.
The
Institute
does
not
really
prepare
us
to
face
the
mainstream
industry.
That
was
my
problem
too
in
the
beginning.
When I came out and assisted Govind Nihalani, which is a different kind of atmosphere, it took me years to adjust to the industry. In Kuch Kuch... my first film in Bombay, on the first day there were so many artistes. The first day, the first set, was the Koi mil gaya song. There must have been a thousand people, so many dancers and all. So then I just went with my instinct. Of course there is tension; I mean you are handling such a big film, such a big responsibility on your shoulder. But it turned out fine.
You
didn't
have
any
major
problems?
From
the
Institute
you
always
handle
small
films
with
few
artistes
and
simples
situations,
you
know,
and
suddenly
you
are
thrown
into...
it's
like
you
are
driving
on
a
lonely
road
and
suddenly
you
are
in
the
middle
of
a
big
traffic
jam.
How
do
you
drive
on
that
road
you
don't
know?
It
was
like
that.
After
that
I
did
a
few
movies
like
Hello
Brother
and
Tera
Jadoo
Chal
Gaya
then
I
did
Pinjar.
In
between
I
went
to
Kerala
for
a
year.
I
did
a
Malayalam
film,
and
I
found
that
the
nature
of
cinema
had
changed
there
also.
They
were
trying
to
make
films
like
Bombay,
but
without
the
resources.
You
were
nominated
for
so
many
awards
for
Pinjar
and
won
the
Screen
Award.
What
was
it
like
working
on
a
period
film?
I
wanted
to
explore
period
movies.
In
fact,
that
was
one
thing
that
attracted
me
towards
cinematography.
From
childhood
I
had
seen
old
period
movies
like
Ten
Commandments
and
was
fascinated
by
how
they
recreate
the
period
and
that
was
my
major
inspiration
to
do
cinematography.
So
when
I
got
Pinjar
I
was
very
excited.
Because
of
its
Punjabi
background,
they
wanted
Manmohan
Singh
who
was
busy
directing
his
own
movie.
Pinjar
was
an
'effortful' movie.
The
director,
art
director
Munish
Sappel
and
I
had
a
very
good
tuning.
We
used
to
discuss
things
in
detail.
We
had
a
very
good,
peaceful
shooting.
Kaal
was
a
horror
thriller,
what
preparation
did
you
need
for
that?
In
Dharma
Productions,
one
thing
is
that
the
script
is
prepared
much
in
advance.
It's
not
like
some
others
where
the
script
happens
on
the
set.
Even
for
Kaal,
the
script
was
given
to
me
eight
months
before.
So
you
know,
you
can
mentally
plan,
you
can
read
you
can
discuss,
that
kind
of
planning
is
always
there.
For
Kaal,
I
had
a
diary
with
detailed
planning
of
each
scene,
what
kind
of
filter
will
be
used
for
what
kind
of
mood.
How
much
you
are
able
to
do
it,
to
what
percentage,
there
are
lot
of
factors,
but
still
if
you
have
a
plan
may
you
will
be
able
to
come
close
to
achieving
it.
I
did
this
myself
then
discussed
it
with
director
Soham,
then
we
decided,
he
gave
his
suggestions
on
certain
things,
and
I
finalised
it.
Film
is
the
director's
medium,
the
technician's
job
is
to
help
them
to
reach
their
vision.Soham
had
written
a
very
beautiful
script,
very
detailed.
You
read
and
you
got
a
feel
of
the
movie.
That
is
inspiring.
So
once
you
go
through
it,
then
how
to
create
that
kind
of
mood
or
feeling
should
be
worked.
It
was
almost
like
a
storyboarded
script.
I
think
we
achieved
most
of
it.
Film
is
the
director's
medium,
the
technician's
job
is
to
help
them
to
reach
their
vision.
How
did
you
get
Krrish?
Actually
Piyush
Shah
was
doing
it,
there
were
some
problems.Rakesh
Roshan
had
seen
Kaal
and
liked
my
work.
So
he
asked
me
to
do
it.
What
was
it
like
working
on
Krrish?
Basically,
the
action
was
very
different
for
an
Indian
movie;
a
lot
of
it
was
being
executed
for
the
first
time.
There
was
lots
of
post-production
and
visual
effects,
and
I
had
to
keep
that
in
mind
while
shooting.
It
was
a
learning
process
for
everybody.
The
stunts
were
choreographed
by
Siu-Tung
Ching.
I
had
seen
Chinese
films
like
Hero
and
House
of
Flying
Daggers
and
I
wanted
to
work
in
a
film
like
that.
The basic process of this kind of action is that the actor is wired and hanged to a crane. The people who have to pull the cables to manipulate the action movements are experts. Hrithik had trained himself so well, that he did the scenes like the circus and the running on the road in Singapore himself, no CGI (computer generated images). Computers were used only to erase the cables.
We also used a three camera set-up and shot on high speed like 100-150 frames per second when the normal speed is 24. There were some scenes like Hrithik jumping on the horse, he did the jump with cables and the horse was inserted later. Or in the scene where the older Hrithik is lying in that special room, those machines and magnetic rings were inserted by computers, I just had to shoot him lying prone, imagining where the rings would be. So while shooting one has to keep all this in mind-visualizing what is not there.
A
lot
of
work
is
done
in
post
production?
Now
this
Digital
Intermediate
(DI)
has
come
up,
so
you
have
a
lot
of
things
that
can
be
controlled.
That
has
become
a
fashion
nowadays,
but
I
still
feel
you
don't
need
it
always.
If
you
feel
a
film
needs
it,
ok,
but
a
normal
movie
doesn't,
so
don't
waste
the
producer's
money.
Only
stylized
movies
need
it.
I
resisted
it
in
Kaal,
my
argument
was
that
this
is
a
story
based
in
a
forest
and
a
forest
should
look
like
a
one.
You
cannot
change
the
colour
of
the
forest
to
yellow
or
pink.
The
audience
has
to
be
in
a
real
environment
to
believe
the
story;
take
them
out
of
that,
whatever
technique
you
apply
it
becomes
technique
standing
out
separately.
In
Krrish
it
was
required.
After
films
like
Krrish,
do
you
find
shooting
family
dramas
boring?
If
people
do
only
that
they
will
get
bored.
I
did
totally
different
kinds
of
movies,
so
I
was
quite
enjoying
it
all.
After
Krrish
I
did
a
small
Malayalam
film
called
Palunku,
starring
Mammootty,
which
was
a
family
film
and
making
it
was
very
peaceful,
even
though
we
worked
long
hours.
In
fact
people
asked
the
director
Blessy
why
he
needed
me.
Do
you
find
any
difference
in
the
style
of
working
in
Kerala
and
Mumbai?
Nowadays
you
have
to
shoot
fast
and
I
am
known
as
a
fast
cameraman
also.
We
planned
Kaal
for
55
days
and
finished
in
53
days--
that
was
a
major
achievement.
Life
is
like
that
now;
have
to
go
fast,
it
is
a
natural
process.
I
have
worked
in
Kerala,
there
the
budget
is
limited,
artistes'
dates
are
given
in
bulk
for
one
schedule,
so
within
that
you
have
to
finish
and
you
have
to
work
fast.
Here
also
there
are
2
hour-30
minute
movies
with
five
songs,
there
also
2
hour
30
minute
movies
with
five
songs,
so
the
output
is
the
same.
There
our
reflexes
get
very
quick.
When
you
see
international
films,
do
you
feel
deprived
somehow...
do
you
wish
you
could
produce
results
like
that?
I
do
feel
bad
sometimes.
The
difference
is
in
planning;
otherwise
we
have
the
same
equipments.
We
shoot
with
the
same
cameras
as
they
do.
Sometimes
they
may
be
a
bit
old...we
use
the
same
stock.
I
think
still,
the
cinematographers
are
doing
a
very
good
job,
if
we
get
a
change
to
work
in
that
kind
of
atmosphere,
we
would
do
much
better.
Now,
of
course
a
good
phase
of
change
is
happening
in
Indian
cinema.