New Delhi, Feb 18: Ravi Varman, one of the most celebrated cinematographers in Indian cinema, remembers the exact moment that sparked his interest in images – when he saw an out-of-focus picture of his late mother as a young boy.
Varman, who was probably 12 at the time, said he stole the picture from a neighbour’s wedding album.
“Children love their mothers. I loved mine too. In villages, people don’t click those many photographs. After two-three years of her passing, I wanted to remember her face. One of my neighbours had clicked some pictures at a wedding. In that picture, my mother is standing outside our hut and her silhouette is a little out of focus.
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“When they showed that picture to me, I stole it and took it to a studio and innocently asked them that I want to see my mother’s face. I got to know that it was not possible as it was an out-of-focus silhouette,” Varman told PTI in an interview.
The cinematographer, who has worked for some of the biggest filmmakers like Mani Ratnam, Imtiaz Ali, and Sanjay Leela Bhansali, often circles back to that moment in his conversations and the accidental nature of his journey that has taken him from his village Poyunderkkudikkadu in Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur to now being inducted in the prestigious American Society of Cinematographers .
“Out-of-focus silhouette” was a new phrase that stayed with him.
“Because of that incident, I bought a Zenit camera when I got my first pay cheque. I slowly started learning about photography. Maybe it was my mother’s wish and she taught me… Everything has been accidental in my life,” said Varman, who dropped out of school after losing his parents and moved to Chennai.
The self-taught cinematographer, who has lensed films such as “Tamasha”, “Ram-Leela”, “Barfi!”, “Jagga Jasoos” and “Ponniyin Selvan I-II”, said while being a member of the Los Angeles-based society doesn’t add much to his job, hopefully, it will inspire others. The only other Indian cinematographer who is part of ASC is Santosh Sivan.
“It is more like a personal victory. I hope it will keep me alive among younger generations and when they look up, they will see that there was an Indian cinematographer there. That he started from zero, without any background, but he still reached there. So, why can’t we? Maybe that’s what this will do.”
The journey to becoming one of the most recognised directors of photography started with a train journey to Chennai without ticket, hiding in the bathroom, getting caught and being jailed.
“I spent 25 days in jail. In my village, most of the houses didn’t have a door. You could go to any house and they will feed you first. But Chennai was a big city and I struggled a lot,” said Varman, who began by working at a hotel and eventually found a foothold in the film industry.
The 51-year-old credits many “good souls” for helping him along the way.
“My girlfriend at the time, now my wife, was very confident about my knowledge when I started working as a stunt cameraman. She is an engineer and the woman I trust the most,” he added.
Varman said he always wanted beautiful things to happen to him and he made them possible through his frames.
“When I came to the film industry, I realised I can create my own colour and beauty. I can bring my inner persona into the frame… I don’t consider myself a technical person but when I read the script, I know how to light up a scene, and bring drama through lighting,” he said, adding that he still remembers each and every frame he has created for the 32 directors he has worked with. (PTI)
