Ramachandra
Babu,
the
veteran
cinematographer-filmmaker
passed
away.
Reportedly,
the
senior
technician
was
rushed
to
the
Beach
Hospital,
Kozhikode
after
he
collapsed
during
the
location
hunt
for
his
upcoming
project
Professor
Dinkan
on
Saturday
(December
21,
2019).
Even
though
Ramachandra
Babu
was
later
shifted
to
Kozhikode
Medical
College,
his
life
could
not
be
saved.
He
is
survived
by
wife
Lathika
Rani
and
brother,
the
renowned
cinematographer
Ravi
K
Chandran.
Professor
Dinkan
the
3D
movie
which
features
Dileep
in
the
titular
role
was
the
dream
project
of
Ramachandra
Babu.
The
movie,
which
was
delayed
multiple
times
due
to
various
reasons,
was
about
to
go
on
floors
very
soon.
Ramachandra
Babu
was
born
on
December
15,
1947,
in
Maduranthakam
at
Chenkalpettu
District,
Tamil
Nadu.
He
completed
his
graduation
in
Chemistry
from
Loyola
College,
Chennai
and
later
completed
the
cinematography
course
from
FTII,
Pune.
The
senior
cinematographer
was
a
batchmate
of
some
of
the
renowned
filmmakers
of
Indian
cinema,
including
John
Abraham,
Balu
Mahendra
and
KG
George
in
FTII.
Ramachandra
Babu
made
his
feature
film
debut
with
the
acclaimed
movie
Vidhyarthikale
Ithile
Ithile,
which
was
directed
by
renowned
filmmaker
John
Abraham.
The
senior
technician
has
handled
the
cinematography
for
about
130
films
in
his
career
and
was
a
fundamental
part
of
Malayalam
cinema's
shift
from
black
and
white
to
colour
films.
He
won
his
first
Kerala
State
Film
Award
in
1982,
for
the
cinematography
of
Dweepu,
the
first
colour
film
of
Malayalam
cinema
which
was
directed
by
Ramu
Karyat.
Ramachandra
Babu
later
bagged
the
Kerala
State
Film
Awards
in
the
years
1978,
1980,
and
1989,
for
the
Bharathan
movies
Rathinirvedam,
Chamaram,
and
the
Mammootty
starring
Hariharan
movie
Oru
Vadakkan
Veeragatha,
respectively.
The
veteran
cinematographer's
noted
films
include
Padayottam,
the
first
70
mm
feature
film
of
Malayalam
cinema,
Nirmalyam
Yavanika,
Oru
Vadakkan
Veeragatha,
Sallapam,
Ghazal,
Kanmadam,
Yugapurushan,
etc.