Liked Yash's KGF Chapter 2 spectacular visuals? Know how a cement godown worker turns into a cinematographer

The Hombale production's biggest blockbusters KGF and KGF Chaper2 are in the news for several factors and one among them is its spectacular camera work.

The film KGF and its sequel in itself is a fantastic story. More interesting is the journey of its crew member Bhuvan Gowda the cinematographer who created an impact with craftsmanship. But did you know that he once worked as a labourer at a cement godown in Bengaluru?.

The much-talked member of the KGF team, Gowda himself, revealed in one of his interviews about this and stated that it is a part of life's journey. It is said that Bhuvan is not a trained cinematographer; it all happened accidentally.

Meets director Prashanth Neel for a still photography project for his 'Ugram'
Actor Sri Murali who teamed up with Prashanth Neel for action thriller 'Urgam' referred Bhuvan Gowda for still photography as the actor was impressed by his artwork. Going by Murali's words, Neel hired Gowda for the digital photography work but due to the cinematographer opting midway, Neel pushed Gowda to try a film camera.

'I was good at digital photography and wanted to quit but was called by actor Murali and told to meet Neel. Neel seemed interesting as he showed interest in lighting and colour contrasts. After I started my work, I used to show the digital print with additional artwork through photoshop. As a cinematographer backed out, Neel asked me to try a video camera. I shot with a 5D camera and he liked it and arranged for a big camera. He has blocked 4 days for a scene, but I completed it in just two days and from then onwards, there was no looking back and finally, KGF happened.' said Gowda.

Neel guided in lighting: Director Prashant Neel is very particular and would prefer block shots and handheld shots. 40 per cent of the work in KGF was handheld and he helped with lighting. The success of KGF also is because of camerawork, lighting, framework and location as per Bhuvang Gowda

Came to Bengaluru to repair watches but ended up as a digital photography worker: After his PUC in Mandya Bhuvan moved to Bengaluru and worked in cement godown for a short time and then joined a store to repair watches to earn some pocket money during graduation days. After two years, he quit the stores and joined reliance stores as a bill collector. One of the clients was an actor in the Kannada film industry and told Gowda to try to work in TV serials as he has a good personality. Impressed by the words, Bhuvan got a portfolio done but his keen observation at the studio setup, lighting and framing made him choose digital photography and eventually turned as a cinematographer.

Challenge during KGF: As the film was set up in mining areas of KGF in part one, and the scene demanded a lot of action, the dust was a killing factor. Gowda says every day, everyone in the set had to go back with some amount of dust in their lungs.