KUMARA KRUPA ROAD:A photo-book to be launched on Saturday will rekindle memories of yesteryear stars and introduce today’s generation to the bygone days of Kannada cinema.
Chitrapatha, published by Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy, is a collection of photographs by still film photographer Ashwatha Narayana, with a narrative in Kannada penned by Shashidhara Chitradurga.
“The cinematographer and the still photographer worked together in those days,” recalls the 70-year-old lensman.
He has dedicated his book to ‘the unknown technicians’ whom he interacted with and respected during his four-decade stint with the cinema industry. “On Puttanna (Kanagal) and Siddalingaiah’s sets, the technicians dominated,” he says.
But the artistes too were equally cooperative and down-to-earth, he adds. Whether it was Rajesh Khanna, Amrish Puri or Pran, all of whom have worked in Kannada projects, they didn’t flaunt their stardom. “Pran would say ‘Just give me curd rice to eat.’ He would stay where the rest of the cast and crew did,” he says. He recalls Express journalist V N Subba Rao, who founded the magazine Menaka, as a source of inspiration and encouragement.
Many of the moments he has captured using his 120-negative camera in the haydays of black-and-white photography are candid shots.
“In a black-and-white picture, you will see only what you need to see, without being distracted by colours or clothing,” he says. Film photography, he feels, isn’t about cinema anymore. “It’s about modelling — all of them feature the actors or actresses modelling.”
All these changes that made him give up taking on film projects — Siddaligaiah’s Prema Prema (2005) was his last — make him look back at this ‘golden period’, days when movies like Bangarada Manushya ran for 100 weeks compared to 100 days now, with nostalgia.
“I don’t know anyone from the film industry now,” he says. “I’m in touch with senior cameraman Basavaraj, actors like Srinath, Srinivas Murthy and Doddanna.”
His advice to young film photographers: when you shoot, be creative and different; what you capture should be something that is lasting. “I constantly clicked pictures of Puttanna,” he says. He’s the subject of around 600 of the 3 to 4 lakh of the negatives that he still has, some of which he is digitising. “Now, almost any photo of his that appears anywhere is taken by me.”
Launch of Chitrapatha at 5.30 pm on Saturday at Gandhi Bhavan. For details, call 2213 3410 or email chalanachitraacademy@gmail.com