COLUMN:
LOCATION DIARY
Photographer
Rajesh talks about his experiences in the films, 'Kandahar',
'Sakthi', and 'Ratchagan'
By
Shevlin Sebastian
On
the sets of 'Kandahar' (2010), at Ooty, director Major Ravi noticed
that Amitabh Bachchan was taking several photos of butterflies on his
personal camera. So, he drew stills photographer Rajesh aside and
said, “Take candid photos of Amitabh as he goes about taking these
pictures.”
So
Rajesh hid from view and took shots of Amitabh taking photos during
breaks in the shoot.
“At
the end of the day, I had about 50 photos,” says Rajesh. “When I
showed them on the laptop to Major Ravi, he said, 'Super'.”
Then
the duo went to Amitabh's trailer and showed him the photos. “Amitabh
Sir got very excited and hugged me,” says Rajesh. “Then he told
me, 'I did not know that I had so many expressions on my face'.”
Amitabh
requested for the photos. Rajesh saved it on a USB drive and gave it
to the superstar. “Then he told me that since he would be there for
the next ten days, I should take more shots,” says Rajesh. So, he
proceeded to do so on his Canon Mark 11. And sure enough, at the end
of Amitabh's shooting stint, Rajesh once again presented another USB.
“Amitabh
was very happy,” he says. “I was so grateful I could interact
with such a big star.”
But
not all interactions on the set are so pleasant. In KT Kunjumon's
Tamil film, 'Sakthi' (1997) the shooting was taking place at
Pollachi. In it, a few wild elephants were making a charge. To shoot
the scene, the cinematographer Tirru, along with his assistant, was
placed on a crane 45 feet high.
Beside
him was Rajesh who wanted to take aerial shots. But things went wrong
soon after. “Somehow, the mahouts lost control of the elephants and
it came charging towards the crane,” says Rajesh. “We knew that
if they hit the crane, we would fall to our deaths.”
But
somehow, the mahouts and crew members retained their presence of
mind. They burst firecrackers and distracted the elephants. The
mammals stopped in their tracks and turned around. Thereafter, the
mahouts were able to bring the elephants under control. “Watching
from the top, I felt grateful to God for saving our lives,” says
Rajesh.
There
was another close shave during the shoot of Kunjumon's Tamil film,
'Ratchagan' (1997). The climax took place on the Chengalpet highway,
70 kms from Chennai. Nagarjuna was the hero, while this was Bollywood
star Sushmita Sen's first Tamil film.
In
the climax, Nagarjuna, on a bike, was chasing a truck which was
driven by Sushmita. Up above, in a helicopter, a villain takes out a
machine gun and shoots at Nagarjuna. There is another helicopter
above the first. “Inside it, there was cameraman Ajayan Vincent, an
actor, and myself,” says Rajesh.
Both
the helicopters had to keep a careful distance between each other,
but somehow, the calculation went wrong, and they came much too
close. “Realising the error, our pilot suddenly zoomed up and
managed to avoid a collision at the last minute,” says Rajesh. “It
seemed as if I got my life back.”
And
this life in Mollywood began in the most casual way. In 1997, the
Thrissur-born Rajesh had gone to Chennai to work in a friend's photo
studio at KK Nagar. Just next to the studio there was a vegetarian
restaurant. It was there that he met legendary director Bharathan's
assistant by the name of Menon. When Rajesh expressed his desire to
join films, Menon invited him to meet Bharathan, who lived nearby.
So,
he went there and was asked to take photos of Shamili the baby girl
who played the five-year-old heroine in the film 'Maloothi', which
Bharathan was directing. Rajesh did so and when Bharathan saw the
pics, he told Menon, “These shots are very good.” Then Menon
said, “Rajesh has a desire to enter films. If he can become an
assistant to somebody that would be great.”
Immediately,
Bharathan picked up the phone and spoke to the leading stills
photographer in Chennai, Soni Sreekumar, who had worked in more than
500 films. Bharathan said, “Soni, there is a young man from Kerala.
He is a good photographer. Can you take him as your assistant?”
So,
Soni appointed Rajesh as an assistant. Within a year, Rajesh became
independent. Today he has worked in 75 films including 30 by noted
director Joshy. “I will never forget the kindness shown by
Bharathan Sir as well as the opportunities given by Joshy Sir,” he
says.
(The
New Indian Express, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode)
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