K.U. Mohanan talks about Talaash

By Philip Bode -

January 15, 2013 - 12:41 PM IST

If there was one aspect that even cynics could agree on is that, the cinematography in Talaash was completely outstanding. Reema Kagti's 2012 suspense thriller was captured by roping in Don and Aaja Nachle director of photography DOP, K.U Mohanan to bring out the mystifying darkness of the film. An alumnus from FTII University, Mohanan has dabbled with a lot of documentary work and art-house films, he has also worked with the late Mani Kaul. The veteran cinematographer forayed into mainstream cinema with Shahrukh Khan's Don in 2006, thereafter shooting over seven films. Currently Mohanan is shooting Farhan Akhtar's, Fukrey. Bollywood Hungama's Philip Bode gets K U Mohanan, cinematographer of one of the most enthralling films last year, to give us a low down on maintaining consistency in films, using sodium vapor lamps, his love for celluloid and capturing the essence of Talaash.

K.U. Mohanan talks about Talaash

"If you want consistency in your film you need to decide what not to do"

"During pre-production, I spend a lot of time with the director and the other core members of the team like the production designer, costume department head etc. to discuss the look and feel of the film, the colour palettes needed and the basic key ingredients of the film. When you look at Talaash or Don, you can actually see that there is a specific colour palette that is being worked upon in the visuals of the film. Until and unless we don't spend a lot of time in the pre-production stage, we will not achieve the desired look of the film. The colors of the film are already predefined and planned, if you have to shoot something and leave it to post-production, there will not be any consistency with the look of the film. Actually, if you want consistency in your film you need to decide what not to do, more that what you should do."

"I made it look like she was an actual hooker, not a paranormal entity"

"As a cinematographer, there is no set of rules made to enhancing a scene emotionally through the shots; different individuals have their own strategies. After a series of meetings with the director and with the shot breakdowns made, it becomes a personal fixation with executing an emotional scene. I read about the supernatural element in the climax of the film, but we never shot it in a manner that would give away the crux of the film. Except for the climax, I did not want to give it away early on in the film as it was Reema's call to shoot it with a sense of realism attached to it. In Kareena Kapoor's introduction shot, I made it look like she was an actual hooker, not a paranormal entity. For Talaash there was a lot of darkness involved, with most of the sequences being night sequences. I had opportunity to play with the night lights and give a temperamental feel to the pictures, as I like to play with a lot of shadows as I think it is challenging to work with a lot of shadows. I did the same with another non mainstream film called Ms. Lovely, which appeared again at last years Cannes film festival in France. We played with a lot of lights and shades as well in that film, I try to fashion out each film in a different form."

"The five cameras were synced to start rolling at the same time"

"The accident scene in the start of the film was actually shot live with no visual effects involved. We had an action stunt crew from England on board headed by action director, Dave Judge. We crashed the car into the sea with the driver in it; the scene was executed by using five film cameras to capture the scene all in one take. We had a two hundred feet crane jutted into the water, with an extended arm that was another 100 ft long, with a camera placed on it. This was controlled using a remote control. The camera was placed just above water level, where we shot it at 150 FPS at night. The five film cameras were synced to start rolling at the same time. We made a chart and planned it out thoroughly with the action team and placed the cameras. This was shot around 5:55 am in the morning to get the twilight lighting feel to the images, and would not be possible without planning. I wanted to roll the cameras when there was enough environmental light hitting the waters."

"I wanted to use all the sodium vapor lamps"

"In the sequence where Nawazuddin was being chased on the overhead bridge, I wanted the shot to follow Nawazuddin. To accomplish this, I asked my key-grip, Minad to construct a device that can help this shot. He fabricated a rig that consisted of a four-wheel like board where the actor sat on and the film camera was mounted in front of him. We had a rope where-in we pull him across the bridge swiftly by running with it. Nawazuddin was performing while the entire rig was being pulled, shooting in real location with big stars and lighting up the streets at night was really challenging. With a lot of night exterior sequences, I wanted to capture the exact same feel to cinema, the feeling of Bombay at night. I wanted to use all the sodium vapor lamps to simulate the same feel to the pictures. I think the mood comes out better with the orange-type light; the idea was to see Bombay in that colour. Many people do not like the sodium vapor lamp feel, which was the main reason I wanted to use that colour, to bring out the unpleasantness."

"He was one of the best cinematographers in the world"

"There are a lot of shots I like in Talaash, but particularly I loved the hotel room sequence with Aamir and Kareena in it, as the colors were enriching and it stood out. I liked the accident scene as well, there was a camera even placed at sea. I tried creating the different moods for different types of the characters. We derive influences from many things we have already seen where we employ it subconsciously. I'm a big fan of world cinema, back in the day European cinema was revered and bustling, Italian filmmakers like Antonioni and others were some of the great filmmakers in the 50s, right through the seventies that made masterpieces. As a cinematographer, I look upto Subrata Mitra who had shot the initial Satyajit Ray films. I think he was one of the best cinematographers in the world and one of the best India produced so far during that filmmaking era in the late fifties."

"Even Fuji film has stopped manufacturing film stock"

"I think the digitization of cinema is in its infancy right now, when we experience an evolutionary transition such as the digitization of filmmaking; it takes us time to get acquainted and for all the glitches of what technology can offer. I still believe that the digitization is not stable yet, maybe after five from now all the bugs would be fixed. People will soon forget about capturing a movie on celluloid. I personally miss film projections as compared to digital projections that we see today in theatres, I feel that digital projections lack the luminosity and the contrasted feel that a film projection offers. The digital revolution all over the world is picking up now taking over the film cameras being used at some places; I believe that within 3 years we would see a complete transition to the digital age. Even Fuji film has stopped manufacturing film stock. Although, I know a few crazy people who are ardent fans of film and will fight and take the crusade further." I was watching Life of Pi the other day and I think it is a lot of fun to shoot a film in stereoscopic 3D, going about with the 3D angle capturing method; there are lots of possibilities that can be played with the 3D aspect. At the end of it, for me it is just a tool whether if it is a film or a digital camera, although I'm getting used to the new digital way of image capturing. For a filmmaker I don't think it matters whether if its film or digital, if you have a strong screenplay and if you have a strong way to tell it, then nothing matters."