Exclusive! Cinematographer Dinesh Kumar Purshothaman Shares About His Upcoming Tamil Feature Film Love Today

Dinesh Kumar Purshothaman has become the most wanted cinematographer in Tamil film industry with his promising works. His first web series Kallachirippu was released in ZEE5 OTT platform in the year 2018. It was directed by Rohit Nandakumar and produced by director Karthik Subbaraj's Stone Bench Productions. Kuruthi Aattam is his debut Tamil feature film and it was directed by Sriganesh. His second web series Vilangu bankrolled by Escape Artists was again released in ZEE5 OTT platform. Vilangu made the entire film industry to search for its cinematographer. His recent film Buffoon is also getting good reviews from the film critics and moviebuffs. His script selection is too good and his consistent efforts in bringing out the astonishing visuals is clearly evident in all his works. Trailer and songs from his upcoming film Love Today has already created a strong buzz among the audience. The most talented cinematographer gave an exclusive interview to FilmiBeat. Let's hear about his technical nuances!

Please explain about your journey in cinema so far.

I had interest in direction while completing my 12th standard in school. Then I realized my interest towards learning the craft as a technician. I don't have much exposure since nobody from my family belongs to cinema. My native is Padappai which is 15 kilometers away from Tambaram. I tried to join DFTech but unfortunately I didn't get admission there. I was rejected by the gatekeeper as my marks in 12th standard didn't met the basic critirea to join in the institution. Later I heard that it was easy to get admission for Film Processing Course at DFTech and I missed it due to the lack of knowledge at the right time. Atleast the gatekeeper who rejected me could have told me about it. Also I don't know about any private institutions and above all I can't afford it then due to my financial situation. When we were going back to home, my mother asked me to do a degree and she gave me the complete freedom to decide my career. I did my degree in visual communication at Agurchand Manmull Jain College, Meenambakkam.

At the age of 21, immediately after completing the course I tried to join DFTech and I was not selected again. Then I started working in Sathyam Cinemas Food and Beverages department. My uncle Parthasarathy helped to join in MJR lights company that deals with lighting for grand events and television shows. I worked there for more than nine months. They gave me an assurance that they will try their best to get an admission for me in DFTech in the next year. But it didn't happen even though they tried for it. So the company had a soft corner on me and referred me to attend an interview to join the team of cinematographer Balasubramanian. I met Gopi Jagadeeswaran, who is an important cinematographer in Tamil film industry today. He worked as an assistant cameraman in Balasubramanian's team when i met him. I attended an interview with him and got selected. Along with me, Kalai Selvan and Kalai Sakthi also got selected.

I joined as an assistant with cinematographer Balasubramanian on March 13, 2011 and worked for more than 10 years with him in 13 films starting from Oru Kal Oru Kannadi to Seema Raja. Neer Paravai, Kathakli, Pasanga 2 and Rajini Murugan are some important films in the list. Then I did my first project as a cinematographer in Kallachirippu for Stone Bench Productions in association with Zee 5. My friend and cinematographer Vidhu Ayyana helped me to get the important opportunity. Then I did Kuruthi Aattam, Buffoon, Vilangu and Love Today. I can proudly say that I learned the craft from the school of cinematographer Balasubramanian. He made me who I am now.

What is your goal as a cinematographer ?

I don't have a definite goal. Every film is important to me. I always focus on giving my best. Love Today director Pradeep Ranganathan narrated the story to me for nearly two hours and I enjoyed every second of his narration. I wanted to bring the exact level of excitement and laughter that I got to the audience through my cinematography. I think working hard to translate and achieve that energy on screen is my goal. To be more precise, my work should contribute in conveying the story clearly to the audience.

Explain about your working style in pre-production, production and pre-production stages ?

I don't follow any particular style. I strongly believe that a director, cinematographer and all the crew members should be in the same page and have proper discussions in the pre-production stage. I will tell two differences with my experience from Love Today and Vilangu. We did an extensive pre-production work for Love Today. Director Pradeep Ranganathan had his own shot divisions already. He worked with me again on the shot division during our script reading sessions and had enough time to search for a lot of locations. Finally, our director had a proper discussion with the crew members and chose the best locations from the list based on our feedbacks. After finalizing all the locations, we went there and worked on the shot division again for the third time. Then we did on location staging.

We used some mobile applications and calculated the exact length and breadth of the houses and we did perfect documentation for everything that we worked on. Since it is a minimum budget film, we planned well and completed the shoot in just 41 days. Our director was very clear with his plans and he handled the project with hundred per cent perfection. We had the clarity about the number of shots per day before going to the floors. The transparency was too good so that even my last assistant know the working plan. I always believe such working style will reduce the burden of a cinematographer.

We have two major areas to concentrate in post-production process. One is computer graphics and the other is colour grading. We didn't had much to work on computer graphics in Love Today but we worked hard on the colour palette of the film. It again falls in the pre-production process. Only when the cinematographer have perfect plans and execution on the colour of the film, the colour grading technicians can enhance it with based on their experience.

How many shots or scenes can you shoot per call sheet on an average ?

It depends on the director, story and all the other departments involved. We shot nearly 45 shots per nine to six call sheet for Love Today. It was possible only because of the extensive pre-production process. In some situations, we won't have any option to continue the shoot for another day on a particular location. It will directly affect your production cost. So when have a plan, we have to stick to it and complete the job as much as possible.

Who is your favourite colour grading technician ?

I will say Suresh Ravi and Prasad as the two best colourists. I'm so happy to work with Suresh Ravi in Baffoon, Love Today and a few important short films. He did Soorarai Potru, Ori Devuda and a lot more projects with cinematographers Shreyas Krishna, Vidhu Ayyana and Niketh Bommi. Prasad is also a top colourist in the film industry. He worked with almost all the top directors and his films are getting released for every week at the box office. He did Karnan, Thiruchitrambalam, Raja Rani, Bigil, Theri, Irumbuthirai, Hero and almost all the films of Cinematographer George C Williams. Both of them gave me the comfort of being in safe hands. When we give them the best output, they will just enhance it completely to another great level with their brilliant skills. Apart from them I like the works of colourist GS Muthu. He did Pudhupettai, which is the first full featured colour graded film in Tamil film industry and he is the first south indian colour grader.

Who are the most important technicians of your cinematography team ?

It starts from assistant cinematographers who are with me in all the stages of a film right from pre-production, production and post-production. They are my biggest strength always. Every cinematographers will have their own team of assistants and gafers. For a cinematographer, it is like a locked seat if we once got near the camera. Only our assistant cinematographers can handle the pressure in all the difficult moments. Keeping post-production in mind, they have to follow the computer graphics shots and all the creative work behind it. They will always keep track of every single information that is important.

I don't have a gafer but I have a crane associate. His name is Kannan and we call him as crane kannan. He is working with cinematographer Balasubramaniam for more than twenty years. Now I'm regularly working with him and his team whenever I need a crane. They can easily pull off any difficult shots and it gives me a great level of confidence. Focus pulling is another most difficult and important job in cinematography department. Nowadays it is very difficult to identify a good focus puller. Maruthi is my focus puller and he is a busy technician. Getting his dates is the first thing that comes to our mind when we plan for a schedule. Sarathi Jai is another important focus puller in my team.

Above all, the lights unit and the technicians handling lights are the most hard working people in the entire craft. The salary that is given to them is too less when compared to other technicians. But the work they do is unbelievable. Carrying huge lights and equipments from one place to another within a limited time throughout the call sheet is not so easy. When I was an assistant with cinematographer Balasubramaniam, we had a practice of doing all the works in the sets and our associates will teach us everything. So I know the weight of a triple height stand and I can't lift it when a heavy light is placed on it. Overall its a collaborative work and all the technicians are contributing in their own way to add value to the project.

Will you work on minimum budget films and independent films in future ?

Irrespective of the budget there should be a great transparency between the director, cinematographer, production team and all the technicians involved in the making. They can easily decide whether it is possible to tell the story within a given budget. This is the basic idea and if the transparency is missed, everything will be missed. According to me, the job of a cinematographer is to convey the story properly to the audience.

I will definitely do independent films as well. Even now I'm doing cinematography for short films and I still feel some short films as my best work so far. Love today director Pradeep Ranganathan watched my work in a short film Couple Friendly and appreciated me a lot. I did another short film Ponnira Maalai rececntly during the schedule breaks of Vilangu. I would love to do cinematography for any project when the story impress me. I'm also doing interviews for Love Today when my director ask me. Its all about the creative freedom and comfort we get from the team that we are working with. So I don't see anything as small or big project.

Can you explain about the importance of metaphorical story telling ?

I will mostly go with minute hidden details when it comes to metaphorical story telling. It should convey something subconsciously to the audience while watching a film. Directors will have their own metaphorical moments in the script. We have such a moment in Love Today as well. I will be so happy when directors prefer to do something metaphorically. Even with Vilangu we did it intentionally. If you notice deeply, the accused will have some blood stains in his shirt at his very first introduction scene. So it is evident that he is the culprit if we connect well with the story. Going forward I will concentrate more to bring out such metaphors with aesthetics by discussing with directors.

Who is your favourite cinematographer ?

My personal favourite cinematographers are Vittoria Storara, PC Sreeram, Jeeva, Balasubramaniam and Vidhu Ayyana. The way Vittoria Storara use colours and nature is just mind-blowing. He is a legend in the field of cinematography. I will always see PC Sreeram as a film-maker more than a cinematographer. He will carry the entire film in his shoulders. Jeeva creates a pleasant and beautiful mood for the film. Since I worked with cinematographer Balasubramaniam for more than ten years, I know about his spontaneity in work place. He always choose vibrant colours and present it in a pleasing way, which is not at all easy. I have the fear of handling vibrant colours whereas they handle it beautifully with aesthetics. His spontaneous thoughts will create magical visuals on screen and it always me push myself to learn more about the craft. Vidhu Ayyana is also a complete story-teller and I'm learning a lot from him. Cinematographers Ramji and Thiru will also concentrate more in conveying the story to the audience and I love their works. Apart from them I have a big list of favourite cinematographers starting from Santhosh Shivan, Rajiv Menon, Raju Ravi, Ravi K Chandran, Ravi Varman, George C Williams, Vijay Karthik Kannan and the list goes on.

Films that impressed you a lot in recent times.

Ponniyin Selvan 1 impressed me a lot in recent times. Apart from that, I didn't watch films for the last six months. Earlier I watched Mandela and it created a strong impact. I revisited Kannathil Mutham Ittaal recently as I always love to watch it for the extra-ordinary craft involved in it.

Do you like to thank anybody who helped in your career ?

I want to sincerely thank my Mother, Father, Sister Shankari, Ramya, Revahty and Anu. My friend and cinematographer Vidhu Ayyana. I got all my projects just because of his initiation. He only suggested me to all the teams that i worked with so far. His wife Judy, director Sriganesh and all my friends who supported me till now. My mentor cinematographer Balasubramaniam taught me everything that I know about cinematography today and I'm always grateful to him. He will never pre-judge anybody and I just love and admire that character from him. His wife Mala and Vishnu who worked as associate cameraman with Balasubramaniam when I joined him as the last assistant. He played a major role in teaching me about cinematography.