It is no exaggeration to state that with PC Sreeram and his long list of students, one would have included most of the biggest cinematographers in the country today.
There, however, are no traces of these achievements in the man himself, who calls his current project Pa, a new beginning.
Ask him why and he reveals that's what he says whenever takes up a movie. Every movie is, as he reveals, a new experience for him, and it is the lookout for such new experiences that have landed him offers as varied as Mouna Ragam then to a thriller like 'Yaavarum Nalam' now, which has brought him to limelight again. Add to these three Hindi films, 'Cheeni Kum', 13 B and now, 'Pa'. "I'm not capable of doing something I don't find personally interesting. That has always been me," he says.
"I've returned to Tamil cinema with 'Yaavarum Nalam' after a few Bollywood films," he says. "Despite being in the industry for so long, my Bollywood shift happened only recently. This was because I was out of my comfort zone in Bollywood for long, not knowing the language. And I didn't want to do work that I would not understand entirely,” he says, in a bid to reiterate his resolve.
But such barriers, however, are a thing of the past, he says, adding that he is well into his third film in Hindi now, 'Pa', by Balki.
“Over 40 percent of this film is done, while I have projects lined up for two more years,” he adds, refusing to divulge details about his forthcoming projects.
'Yaavarum Nalam'
“This essentially is a Tamil film, which later became a bilingual. It was an exciting experience for me to create the effect the TV had to give the audience”
Direction
“I don‘t think my directorial ventures have not been received well. Kurudipunal was a hit. But 'Vaanam Vasappadum' was my big mistake, despite being techinically sound as the fifth HD film in the world,” he says. He informs that he hasn‘t set his eyes on direction again and news about him directing a film are rumours
Maargazhi Ragam
Capturing a concert apparently interested the cinematographer as much as shoting at an exotic locale abroad did. “When Jayendra asked me if I was interested in doing a concert movie, I said, Why Not," he recounts.