He has survived for over ten years in Kollywood, and this twenty-five-year old camera buff, who had stepped into the industry to excel as an actor, finally found his calling in the field of cinematography.
“The funny part in the film industry is that you don’t decide what you want, but the industry decides what you are needed for. I took the first stride into this field with the aim of becoming an actor, and during that time I had even bagged a supporting role in a Tamil flick. However, as it was a low budget film, I got an opportunity to assist in direction and cinematography. I believe this was when I got my break and the technician in me was born,“ says Deepak.
After that film, Deepak bagged the position of assistant director in several ad films. As he continued working, he says he was drawn towards camera and lenses and gradually he started working as a cinematographer. “Film industry is like a magnet, which can attract people from anywhere,” he says.
Soon after completing his ITI degree from a Madurai-based college, he decided to resume his career graph in the cineworld and was back on track. Being of a non-film background, Deepak who is based out of Chennai, says his mother has been a pillar of support. Narrating some of the adverse situations he has shot in, he recalls, “I remember during one such event, I was not offered a crane for a shot, so I used ladders and bike headlights for a project where I had no budget for lights.”
However, this is not all that he has to his name. He started a camera hire zone for low budget independent filmmakers and short filmmakers in 2011 in partnership with his friend. “It was the time the film industry started to adapt to this culture, and the boom for such projects started. Until then there were no rental houses to support such filmmakers. What initially started off with a place for hiring accessory lenses later went on to house equipment such as Canon 1D-C 4K camera, Black magic and Rokinon and Samyang cine primes. The idea was to give quality equipment at much affordable rates and encourage youngsters in this field.”
Being a cinematographer does not come easy. He says the three things that are essential to a choregrapher are time, budget and quality, and more often than not, a presence of mind is also required. Recalling one such shoot, he says, “During a shoot in Ooty, there were sudden rains and we could not afford to stretch the shoot another day. This was when I thought we could use the rains for the scene and it turned out to be a solution rather than a problem,” he says.
a chequered career
Deepak started off as an actor before getting a taste for the technical aspects of filmmaking, which was followed by stints as assistant director in many ad films. In between, he also found time to begin a camera hire zone. With films like Maman Manasu with director Ravi Thambi, Slum with director Sreedar, Divya Ilavarasan with director Jayan to his credit, Deepak is on his way to add many more to the list