I still remember the moment when he asked me to handle the camera for his classic movie Piravi. “Sunny, so you are doing the camera, right,” he told me with his characteristic ease in the midst of our discussions. When he told me about doing Piravi, I was hopeful that he may ask me to crank the camera as he will be concentrating more on direction. “Then, let’s start,” he said the moment I said yes. Before Piravi, I had done three films as cameraman including Theertham, Eenam Maranna Kattu, and Ore Thooval Pakshikal. I had also assisted him in movies including Chidambaram and Meenamasathile Sooryan for which he had handled the camera.
I will never forget the first shot of Piravi. We had kept the camera inside a wayside teashop. Veteran actor Premji, who brilliantly portrayed the lead character, was seated on a wooden log outside. As the wooden planks of the tea shop are opened, we can see Premji’s character outside. Rather than using artificial rainfall in the movie, we waited for the natural rainfall and that was something new to me. We had bought raincoats for the crew and took care to ensure that the camera did not get drenched in the downpour. There were no lights or reflectors as we used two thermocol sheets to reflect the natural light.
Veteran cinematographers like him instilled the courage in the people who followed them to take a few risks and go the extra distance in capturing a frame. The lessons learnt from him in lighting and the experiments with camera width pushed people like me further in our creative journey. Piravi was a milestone for both of us. I started receiving invitations for movies from other languages after Piravi. Even today people praise me for my work in the movie. He was a man who was way ahead of his time.
(Sunny Joseph, acclaimed cinematographer, who won the 1988 Kerala State Film Award for Best Photography for Piravi – as told to G. Krishnakumar)
Published – April 29, 2025 04:22 am IST