CINEMATOGRAPHER SUJITH VAASSUDEV INTERVIEW

My journey into cinematography was a gradual process. When I was working as a camera assistant at a studio in Trivandrum, I realized my interest in photography. And when my photographs were appreciated, I felt the next destination was Television. I had worked as a camera assistant in many TV serials in many channels where I learnt a lot.

Then I worked with Rajesh Touchriver in a short film called Sacred Face. It was a short film with a duration of fourteen minutes and was funded by a Hyderabad based NGO.  The short film had its journey in many national and international festival circuits and won many awards. My work got appreciated.

My first feature film was Shaji Kailas’s Kerala Café. It was done by five different directors; five different stories connected at the Kerala café. After that I have worked in 11 to 12 films, all in Malayalam. 

Papanasam is my first Tamil film. I have worked with Jeetu Joseph first in Memories and then Drishyam and now Papanasam.

We completed the shoot in thirty nine days. That's the major highlight of the film.

We shot Papanasam at the same place where we shot Drishyam. The subject and storyline are such that they cannot be changed in any language or setting or in dialogues. Therefore I did not find any difference between Papanasam and Drishyam.

I was initially very afraid to work with him before we started the shoot as I was told by many that he would interfere in one's work etc. But what I saw and experienced at Papanasam shooting was just the opposite. Kamal was very cooperative, supportive and very easy to handle. He is a very sensitive and a sensible person. If he asks you any doubt, you should clear it. That’s what he wants. If you are confident and explain things, he is fine with it. There is no room for argument. Overall, he is a brilliant human being.

Gauthami Ma’am is also very good. We Malayalees know her very well as she has acted in many Malayalam movies and we all like her very much. She was very cool, supportive, cooperative and caring. 

I did not want to distract the attention of the audience from the story line in any way through my lighting or camera movement because the story line is very narrow. People should watch and observe all the dialogues and expressions of the artists.  That’s why I did not experiment anything. I had to only capture the emotions because the story is very much interesting and powerful. There was no need to try any gimmicks. It is a plain movie which the audience should enjoy for what it stands.

There are many offers but I want to be in a good film. Discussions are going on. We will have to wait and see.  Nothing is confirmed; Hindi offers are also coming. 

In Tamil, Mani Ratnam is one of my favorites.  In Hindi, it is Sanjay Leela Bhansali. I have been saying this in all my interviews. I would also like to work with Gautham Menon. After VTV, I was completely behind him. I would also like to work with Hari, A R Murugadoss and many more. I want to work in Tamil industry more.

I won Kerala State Award for Ayaal and Memories in 2013 and Kerala State television award in 2009.

Best of luck to Sujith Vaassudev for Papanasam and all his endeavors!