The sunlight crashes inside the penthouse of a sprawling high-rise in Chennai like waves against a shoreline. Fitting, since it houses a sorcerer of light—cinematographer Ravi Varman. This year’s national award winner has dominated cinematography in the Indian film industry for the past two and a half decades. He has a unique ability to lend life and colour to the landscapes visualised by filmmakers. From period dramas to romances to action thrillers, Varman has experimented with glare and flare, silhouettes, and out-of-focus frames. The dramatic use of colour in each frame— whether in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela (2013) or in Shankar’s Indian 2 this year—has become his signature.
“I have learnt everything I know from day-today life,” he tells THE WEEK, seated on a sofa in a small work room that is crowded with books by the likes of Ci.Su. Chellappa, Thi. Janakiraman, Ashokamitran, Jayakanthan, and Sundara Ramasamy. “It was Chellappa’s novels that shaped my thoughts and gave me an understanding of modern literature.” In a corner of the room is his old Zenith 6 camera, which he bought with his first salary to learn photography.
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