A cinematographer is a person in command over the camera crew working on a movie. Let's have a look on some notable cinematographers from South India, who have given award winning film in Bollywood.
Therefore, South Indians would also produce the best films with the best cinematographers of the world. Crafting images from scratch, cinematographers from the south are the ones who ensure that mere yet inherently meaningful images drive their story. Here are a few cinematographers, who worked in Bollywood and got many awards and was appreciated for their work.
Santosh Sivan, who is from Kerala is one of the golden names in Indian. He bagged almost 11 National Film Awards, and 21 international awards, for his work in various films. Santosh was the first Indian to get into the world famous Society of American Cinematographers, and the president of India awarded him the Padmashree in the year 2014. Remember, the song Chaiyya Chaiyya was a grand success because of the well-studied angles and view shots by Santosh. Some of his best works are Dil Se.., Indian Rupee, Iruvar, The Terrorist, Bride and Prejudice, etc
Ravi Varman is from Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, who is known for his realistic picturization and poetic framing sense. He began his career in Malayalam films. His notable work in Bollywood are Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela and Tamasha! He also work with Anurag Basu in Barfi and got many awards.
Ravi K. Chandran was born in the village Maduranthakam, Tamil Nadu. Ravi is a famous cinematographer and is one of the favourites of Priyadarshan. Ravi has also worked with many directors like Mani Ratna, Sanjay Leela Bhansali Rajiv Menon and A. R. Murugadoss. Ravi has won two Filmfare Awards and one Southern Filmfare Award during his career. Ravi was appreciated by the Bollywood prominent director Aditya Chopra for his skill of narrating a story in Aamir Khan's Fanaa. From Shah Rukh Khan to Aamir, Ravi was the man behind the lens which focused on the scenes in Bollywood movies like Ghajini, My Name Is Khan and Dil Chahta Hai.
P.C. Sreeram, who was a student of Madras Film Institute and better known as P.C, and is widely regarded as the "Guru of Cinematography" amongst filmmakers in India. Apart from his cinematographic works, Sreeram was much praised for his directorial film Kuruthipunal which was submitted by India as its official entry to the Oscars in 1996. Sreeram is well known for his association with great filmmakers and superstar like Mani Ratnam, Moulee and Kamal Haasan. His work was well appreciated in films like O Kadhal Kanmani, Remo. Mouna Ragam, Nayagan, Geetanjali, Thiruda Thiruda and Alaipayuthey. In Bollywood he did a few movies like Ki and Ka, Shamitabh, 13B, Cheeni Kum, etc
Rajeev Ravi is from Kochi, Kerala and best known for his Hindi and Malayalam films. In Bollywood, he did outstanding movies like Chandni Bar, Dev.D, Gulaal, That Girl in Yellow Boots, Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 1 & 2, Udta Punjab, etc. He also received the National Film Award in 2013 for Best Cinematography for Liar's Dice directed by his wife, Geetu Mohandas.
Rajiv Menon from Cochin, Kerala is known for directing critically acclaimed Tamil films like Minsara Kanavu and Kandukondain Kandukondain. As a cinematographer, his accomplishments include works such as Bollywood movies like Bombay and Guru. He worked under the wing of leading filmmakers like Mani Ratnam, Shyam Benegal, and Girish Karnad. Menon is known for directing critically acclaimed Kollywood films like Minsara Kanavu and Kandukondain Kandukondain.
K. V. Anand, who was a former photojournalist now working mainly in the South Indian film industry. Anand won the National Film Award for Best Cinematography for his debut film as a cinematographer, Thenmavin Kombath which was a Malayalam musical comedy starring Mohanlal, Nedumudi Venu, and Shobana. His work consists more of South Indian movies ranging from prominent Tamil movies like Rajnikanth starrer Sivaji- the Boss. He also did a few Bollywood movie like Josh, Khakee, etc.
