The ace cinematographer Tirru makes his debut in Kannada with a film directed by ad filmmaker, Jai Sanka. The entire project was shot during the lockdown.
The DOP shares his experience and his collaboration with actor Dhananjay.
Dhananjay is currently one of the busiest actors in Kannada cinema right now with a slew of interesting projects, which includes projects like Salaga, Badaava Rascal, a film directed by S Ravindranath, Rohit Padaki’s Rathnan Prapancha and Head Bush.
Meanwhile, it has come to light that during this lockdown period, Dhananjay has completed shooting for ad filmmaker Jai Sankar’s film.
With cinematography by National Award-winner Tirru, the film is billed as an action thriller. Written by Jai Sankar, the yet-to-be-titled film features Dhananjay as a cop. Interestingly, this project marks Tirru’s debut in Kannada cinema, and he calls this film one of his best productive works.
“During the initial days of lockdown, Jai Sankar, a frequent collaborator of mine, called to discuss a storyline. He told me that is a never-before-said story about a cop. The final draft of the story was so good that I had to be part of the film,” explains Tirru. The DOP has associated with films like Hey Ram, Hungama, Bhool Bhulaiyaa, 24, Janatha Garage and his latest will be Marakkar Arabikadalinte Simham, and Acharya.
Tirru, who had no idea about Dhananjay’s work before the shoot, is all praise for him after it. “Since I knew the subject, I suggested Sankar to bring in an actor, who can carry the film on his shoulders and he suggested actor Dhananjay. Honestly, I hadn’t heard of Dhananjay, and Jai sent me a few clips of his previous films. I went with the director’s confidence and we landed in Bengaluru.
My first-day opinion about the hero gradually changed, and according to me, Dhananjay is an actor with a lot of potential, and he should be utilised much more,” says Tirru, adding he roped in his long-time collaborator Rajeevan as the production designer, and also worked with a few technicians from Kannada cinema.
“I didn’t even realise we spent 20 days on the shoot. Although the film started off as a project with a friend, it ended up becoming an extraordinary project in Jai Sankar’s hand, and it was all because of the ability of Dhananjay and the team I worked with,” he says.