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10TH MUMBAI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL HOMAGE K K MAHAJAN K K
Mahajan is considered to have been one of India's
foremost cinematographers with a body of work consisting of over 80 feature
films, about 100 commercials, more than 20 significant documentaries and
several television serials. A four time National Award winner, his
cinematographic contribution to both mainstream and art cinema has remained
unparalleled and has been credited with changing the very face of Indian
films in the 1960s and 1970s. His prolific
virtuosity has rightly been considered a major factor in the Indian New Wave
which saw the emergence of path-breaking feature films like Mrinal Sen's Bhuvan Shome (1969), Basu Chatterji's Sara Akash (1969), Mani Kaul's Uski Roti (1970) and Kumar Shahani's Maya Darpan (1972).
The one common factor to all these classics was brilliant cinematography by
'K K' as he was fondly known. A Gold Medalist in Motion
Picture Photography from the FTII, Pune, (class of
1966), K K started working independently the same
year, first shooting advertisement films and later, documentaries and short
films. Some of the award-winning documentaries, among the many that he shot,
include Child of The Streets (Dir: Shyam Benegal, 1967), A Certain Childhood (Dir: Kumar Shahani, 1967), Amrita Sher-gil
and Mahabalipuram (Dir. B.D. Garga,
1968). Fittingly, his breakthrough into feature films came as a result of the
impact that the avant garde
The Glass Pane( 1966 ), his diploma film with director Kumar Shahani at the FTII, had on film maker Mrinal Sen. That led to Bhuvan Shome (1969) and the beginning of a long journey. K K
received his four National Awards for Best Cinematography very early in his
career for Sara Akash 1969, Uski
Roti 1970, Maya Darpan
1972 and Chorus 1974. In the long and fruitful career that followed, spanning
over four decades, as he worked with some of the reputed award winning
directors of his time, K K showed his ability to
squarely face the challenges he had to confront and to change the grammar of
cinematography forever. Also, he proved that he had no problems in adjusting
to the so called gap between art and commercial films, between the rigours demanded in regional cinema and the grandeur of
mainstream Hindi cinema, -straddling both worlds with consummate finesse-, between
his passion for 'film' and 'emulsion' and his understanding and acceptance of
the digital medium. With effortless ease, he made the seemingly smooth
transition to the varying styles in the medium of film making. And while
doing so, almost creating a kind of informal manual for young students. K K remembered his own beginnings as a young
cinematographer in Bombay as one of the early graduates of the FTII, who
began his career at a time when the film industry was unwilling to believe
that training in cinema could be imparted, years of apprenticeship being the
traditional entry route, with as he put it: “little or no encouragement from
the seniors, and everything had to be learned on our own”. Besides conducting
workshops at the FTII and the SRFTI (Kolkata), he also became a one man
institute for those who worked with him and the great teacher that he was,
rejoiced in the fact that over twenty five of those associated with him, went
on to become cinematographers in their own individual capacity. K K's seminal contribution
as a cinematographer has often drawn comparison with that of the legendary
Laszlo Kovacs who shot both low budget feature films as well as mega bucks
Hollywood films. Uncannily, Kovacs too passed away in July 2007. Besides his
path-breaking work in art films and the sheen and dexterity displayed in
mainstream cinema, over the years, K K also left
his indelible stamp on several award winning documentaries and short films
and is said to have originated the way landscapes and faces are lit by the
Indian sun on the screen in our documentaries today. In particular, with
close friend and class-mate from the Institute days, Kumar Shahani, has emerged a significant body of work, against
all odds; recent work in this genre include the mystical Bamboo Flute ( 2000) and As The Crow Flies,(2004) a short film in
digital format, shot in one day, on the work of painter Akbar Padamsee, where K K again shows
the magical fluidity of his camera work. Mir Award for Lifetime
Achievement (2005) conferred on him by the IDPA for his contribution to the
art of film making. Characteristically, he remained unfazed by these.
Perhaps, K K himself summed it up best. To quote
him, “I am lucky to be in this beautiful profession. .......The best thing
about this profession is that I am learning everyday.....there is no end to
learning. Nobody is the master of his craft. It changes every day and you
have to learn”. For more info on K K Mahajan: http://www.graftii.com/ezine30.aspx http://www.upperstall.com/people/kkmahajan.html AS THE CROW FLIES Short film/ Digital/2004 Director: Kumar Shahani Camera: K. K. Mahajan From a personal point of
view, I am particularly impressed with the way, “ lines”
are used. The lines drawn on canvas or paper,....I
refer to them as “geometrical” lines....square, rectangular, vertical,
horizontal or curved..... The force and strength of
the hand and of the brush used to render different images, different shapes,
different dimensions and different meanings and expressions is simply
amazing..... The film “As The Crow
Flies” reproduces those lines onto a different medium. At times, a painting or
sketch is “shot” in its entirety, at times a part of a painting is shown, at
times, some details of a painting are focused upon. Sometimes, these have been
put together in a sequence; at other times, they have been juxtaposed with
each other, to convey a certain expression, a certain movement of lines.... At other times, camera
movements have been used to interpret the meanings of those lines.....; sometimes,
the lines appear suspended in space, and together
with the music in the background, they seem to add a certain emotion and
meaning to the expression of the artist.......something profound that he
shares with us. I enjoyed working on “As
The Crow Flies”, even though it was shot in the digital format, and not on film.
In fact, shooting the artist's black and white paintings, in the digital
format was particularly challenging. On viewing “AsThe Crow Flies”, one is left with the feeling that what
one “sees” or “knows” is never entirely settled or concluded...... . The thinking process
continues...... . K.K. Mahajan |
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