KGF bridges Bollywood-South divide: Sanjay Dutt bonds with cinematographer

Bengaluru, May 2 (IANS): At a time when there is a bitter talk everywhere about the north-south divide over language, the achievers who demolished the divide between south and north are relishing the success.
Bhuvan Gowda, the star cinematographer who shot to fame after the humongous success of ‘KGF Chapter 2’, revealed how veteran Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt has been calling him and appreciating his work.
“Senior actor Sanjay Dutt has been calling and appreciating the work. Sanjay Dutt, whenever he calls addresses me as “Bu”. He asks how are you “Bu”. Till now, he had called more than 10 times,” he says. Sanjay Dutt every time he calls tells that “bahut achcha dikhaya mujhe (you have presented me well on screen). Sanjay Dutt calls me whenever he remembers,” he adds.
“The biggest compliment came from Telugu star Prabhas. He personally called and congratulated my work. Superstars Allu Arjun and Ram Charan from Telugu film industry who made it big in north also sent congratulatory messages to him.
“Bhuvan explains that he comes from the school of Prashanth Neel, the director of ‘KGF 2’. “I have not learnt cinematography. I am basically a photographer,” he says.
“Prashanth Neel recognized my talent and made me a cinematographer in his first movie ‘Ugram’.”
He is from Kaudale village near Maddur taluk in Mandya district of Karnataka. After PUC, he came to Bengaluru in search of a job.
Cinematography is rarely celebrated and recognized. The people are talking about the visual treatment in ‘KGF 2’, so it’s an honour, Bhuvan explains. The credit must go to the director Prashanth Neel and art director for the visual output, he adds.
When asked about how much efforts he had put in for grand visual treat, Bhuvan Gowda explained that, his biggest strength is lighting and shadow. He would not prefer flat light at all.
In outdoors he uses natural lighting, it all helps to have a grip over audience and compel them to be inside the movie. “Sharp presentation and framing are my strengths,” he says.
People fear to work with low light. “I am very confident about the output as I grew up with digital camera. I was never discouraged for experimentation while shooting for KGF 2,” he reveals.
The tunnel fight is shot only in the light of fire stick. The film team had arranged a set up with a cost of Rs 1.5 crore. The set itself was not visible in the fight scene, no question was asked, he said.