The first shot of ace cinematographer Ravi K Chandran’s Yaan takes your breath away, courtesy the man behind the lens, his assistant, Manush Nandan. Though just five films old, Manush’s CV can give anyone a complex—starting with Kamal Haasan-KS Ravikumar’s Manmandhan Ambu, other than the recently released Yaan, Manush is also the cinematographer for Shah Rukh Khan’s Happy New Year (HNY).
Born into a household of journalists, it was the creative arts that beckoned Manush. “I remember marching up to my parents and telling them that for my Higher Secondary, I would love to shift to a corporation school that offered photography as vocational studies and they were completely okay with it,” rewinds Manush, the son of noted film critic Ghani.
After Class XII, Manush enroled for a Diploma in Film Technology at the Madras Film Institute. A chance meeting with cinematographer Chandran led to him becoming Ravi’s assistant. “It all happened in two days. I showed Ravi sir some of my work and it was pack up to Mumbai after that,” says Manush.
From 2005 to 2010, the cinematographer collaborated with his master for Hindi films like Fanaa, Saawariya, Ghajini, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, My Name is Khan, Anjaana Anjaani and also Nandita Das’ Firaaq. “At the end of Anjaana Anjaani, Ravi sir wanted me to become independent and suggested my name to Kamal Haasan and Ravikumar who wanted to experiment with the Red Digital Camera for Manmadhan Ambu,” says Manush.
Labelling Manmandhan as a great learning curve, Manush says, “Legend has it that Kamal Haasan can even take out a camera and assemble it back together. The Manmadhan team never treated me like a novice, even though it was my first film as a full-fledged cinematographer. Now every other filmmaker is experimenting with the Red Digital camera whereas Kamal and Ravi sir were several steps ahead four years ago.” In Kollywood, Manmandhan was the second film after Kamal’s Unnaipol Oruvan to embrace the Red Digital format.
While Manush was doing a couple of medium budget films to establish himself in Bollywood, including Priety Zinta’s comeback film Ishkq in Paris, the call came from Chandran to be the lensman for the latter’s directorial debut, Yaan. “I don’t know why, among his students, he chose to entrust me with the huge responsibility. Perhaps it was to ensure that he needed a team that understood him so that he can get on with his work without brakes,” says Manush. Though, Yaan didn’t set the box office on fire, it remains an important film for Manush, considering several critics called the cinematography, “the saving grace of the film”.
Perhaps an even more important film for Manush would be Farah Khan’s HNY, for all eyes are on this `150-crore entertainer. “The first assistant director of Ishkq in Paris recommended me to Farah who was looking for a new team to repeat the success of Om Shanti Om. When she heard I was Chandran’s assistant, I heard there was no hesitations whatsoever,” he shares the story behind bagging HNY.
With respect to HNY, Manush has his task cut out for he had to ensure that all six stars looked good on screen—Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Boman Irani, Sonu Sood and Vivaan Shah. At the rate of a heartbeat, he’s quick to answer that shooting SRK was most fun. “Since it is a dance-heist film, there were a lot of stylish and challenging scenes to shoot such as recreating a helipad and composing the shot to look as if it were shot in Dubai. SRK as an actor and person reverberates positive energy around him. He respects technicians. We have heard of someone being labelled as a director’s actor, but SRK is a cinematographer’s actor too. As for Farah, she is clear about what she wants but at the same time she’s open to suggestions too,” says Manush, who’s looking forward to a much-awaited break after the film’s release.
