Cinematographer Preetha Jayaraman takes hurdles in her stride. Hers is a profession that has been a male bastion. But today, she has clearly established herself as one of the most talented cinematographers in the film industry. She has worked her magic on screen with eight films in multiple languages and has now completed director Preetham Gubbi’s upcoming film, Boxer, which is all set to release soon.
Through her creative outing in Sandalwood, she has won many hearts through her visualisation. She started with Oggarane directed by Prakash Raj. On landing the Boxer offer, she says, “The editor of Oggarane recommended me and Preetham liked my work. Boxer has enough visual scope and it became challenging because it is a love story with boxing as a backdrop. I enjoyed working on the fights and liked the way Ravi Verma brought out the stunts in his unique style.”
Since her ideas matched in Boxer, she has now joined hands with Preetham for his next, Naanu Mathu Varalakshmi. “Preetham is open to ideas. I consider him to be an instinctive filmmaker,” she says. “His scripts are his biggest strength.” she says.
She has worked in multiple languages across industries. She has worked with the national-award winning cinematographer PC Sreeram, who is also her uncle, then on a few Hindi documentaries after which she entered the Tamil industry with Kannamoochi Yenada. “However, it was Abhiyum Naanum that gave me a big break,” she says.
“After that I did a few more Tamil films. I entered Kannada with Oggarane and have also worked in a Hindi film, which was never released,” says Preetha.
Her success can be attributed to the right blend of technical and artistic expertise. “When a director tells a story, it excites you visually. We interpret it through a creative lens, making it interesting and breathing life into the story. It is like a painting where you put your own elements and draw the audience to it. When you tell a story, it has to be beautiful and that’s where cinematography becomes necessary,” she explains.
Although she agrees that she had faced discrimination initially, she is quick to add that her effort soon won her all the support. “I should be thankful to all those technicians, who never questioned me about my work because I am a woman. Of course, it is a physically challenging job which is why some women think twice before getting into this profession, but if your mind is focused, you will fall in love with it,” says Preetha.
At home too she found all the encouragement from her husband and 6-year-old daughter. “Once I am done with a shoot and return home, I pretty much switch off and become a normal homemaker,” she says.
Her next film is again with Prakash Raj, who is planning to remake the Malayalam film Shutter in Kannada.