It feels as though a friendship of 50 years has come to an end. Seeing Shaji at his home after his passing was painful.
My first memory of him goes back to the stunning visuals he captured for Thampu, a film that remains one of my all-time favourites even today. After the shoot, Aravindan, John Abraham, Chandralekha, Sadananda Menon, and I gathered in Madras. We were all mesmerised by the visuals Shaji had captured. That is where our friendship began.
In fact, it never felt like we didn’t collaborate, because most of my cinematographers -- Sunny Joseph, Madhu Ambattu, and others -- came from what I often call Shaji’s school of training. Whenever Shaji arrived on set, it was nothing short of a celebration.
His candid camera work was astonishing. In Thampu, he captured several breathtaking moments. One that has stayed with me is a shot of a child from the circus troupe smoking a ‘beedi’. It was a raw, unguarded moment caught with such authenticity that it still moves me. Shaji had an extraordinary gift for absorbing the essence of a moment without losing its naturality.
We have a long history of spending time together, often at Aravindan’s place, bonded by our shared admiration for his work. I was also part of the post-production team for Thampu. The memory of going through those 40,000 rushes still feels alive.
Our early days at the Calcutta Film Festival in 1990 are a trove of memories too. I was there with Alicinte Anweshanam and Shaji with Piravi, both of us featured in the Indian Panorama section. Both of us were beginners then and our bond grew stronger. Later, in Mumbai, we spent nearly a week together.
Over the years, we served on many committees together, the last one being in 2023 when we were part of the search committee for the chairman of the K R Narayanan Institute. We spent about a month and a half together during that time. One of the moments I cherish most was being able to suggest Shaji’s name for the J C Daniel Award to the chief minister. He was so happy about it and had mentioned it to me.
(As told to Varsha Somaraj)