Natural lighting was late MJ Radhakrishnan’s forte

Watching Kaliyattam n the darkness of a movie hall was quite mesmerising, especially when it gently faded away. The flames revealed the skill and imagination of the cameraman...
M J Radhakrishnan
M J Radhakrishnan

KOCHI: Remember the flames that steadily rise when credits of the movie Kaliyattam (1997) start rolling? Watching it in the darkness of a movie hall was quite mesmerising, especially when it gently faded away. The flames revealed the skill and imagination of the cameraman who could work wonders with the lens.

M J Radhakrishnan, the cameraman of Kaliyattam, was one such person. Fondly called MJR, Radhakrishnan breathed his last on Friday. The enticing visuals in various movies stand testimony to his creative prowess.

Kaliyattam was an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play Othello and director Jayaraj selected Radhakrishnan as his cameraman. The movie was told in the backdrop of theyyam (a ritualistic art form of Malabar) and there are many sequences which were shot at night. As a result, in many scenes, embers and lit torches are shown.

“MJR never depended on too much lighting techniques to enhance the beauty of scenes. He always preferred natural lighting. He was totally against camera gimmicks. Frames should maintain cinematic grammar and natural light has its own majesty, he always said,” said actor/director M G Sasi.

Sasi was Kaliyattam’s assistant director. For his debut movie Adayalangal (2007) as an independent director, it was MJR who cranked the camera. “While shooting Kaliyattam, both MJR and I stayed together in a house in Palakkad. We were good friends and, of course, when I made my debut as a director, he was my first and last choice as cameraman,” said Sasi.

MJR won the state award for best cinematographer for his work in  Adayalangal. Altogether, he has won seven state awards and has handled the camera for nearly 75 films. He was the cinematographer for Veyil Marangal directed by Dr Biju which won the award for ‘Outstanding Artistic Achievement’ at the 22nd Shanghai International Film Festival in June this year.

Radhakrishnan started his career as a still photographer and later joined Shaji N Karun as assistant cinematographer.

His first independent work was Mamalakalkkapurath directed by Ali Akbar in 1988. His last work was with Karun’s Olu (2019), which is yet to hit the screens.

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