'Working With Kids a Challenge but I Fully Enjoyed it'

In a chat Express with cameraman Balasubramaniem who says out of the films he worked, 'Pasanga 2' was the toughest. Excerts follow...
'Working With Kids a Challenge but I Fully Enjoyed it'

One of the Tamil film industry’s most sought-after cameraman Balasubramaniem is a happy man today. For not only has his last film Pasanga 2 come in for a lot of praise from various segments of the society, it has also been doing well in theatres. One of the elements of the film that has been much appreciated is the colourful manner in which the story has been told.

“I wanted the film to appeal to kids. So, I’ve deliberately made it very colourful. No, I did not use a special camera but a normal one for this film,” smiles Balasubramaniem. “I have done 32 films so far but this has the most challenging work — working with kids in this film. But I thoroughly enjoyed working on it,” says the cinematographer, who is all praise for both director Pandiraj and the kids who have acted in this film — Nishesh and Vaishnavi.

“Director Pandiraj gave me a free hand and that helped. I would wait for candid moments and forsake everything else to shoot them. For instance, there was a scene in which I had to focus on Bindu Madhavi. However, while shooting the scene, I suddenly found one of the children doing something interesting and so I quickly panned the camera to the child. Bindu continued to act under the impression that I was still shooting her. However, I was busy shooting the child. Later, when they got to know what I had been doing, nobody even questioned me as to why I deviated from the original plan. Everybody was understanding and sweet and that is why the film has come out so well,” the cameraman says.

Balasubramaniem also confirms what others say about director Pandiraj’s efforts for this film. “Pandi did extensive research for this film. He spoke to several teachers, parents and children before making this film,” he explains.

In fact, both the director and the cameramn visited different schools across the state for the film. “While working on getting data for this story, we came across many interesting schools and different practices. For instance, there was this school that was right in the middle of a paddy field. Then, there was another school in which the children would not address their teachers as Miss or Ma’am but as akka (sister). On the whole, this film has been a fascinating experience,” he smiled.

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The New Indian Express
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