Veteran Cinematographer Ramachandra Babu Passes Away

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.