Picture Perfect

Much like his fixation towards lighting,Pradhan’s other photographic traits too can be traced to the early influences in his childhood. Pradhan’s stepping stone into the world of images was through the humble interiors of a small studio owned by his father in their hometown. It was the time of black and white images,and Pradhan’s first tryst with colour photographs were the hand-painted transparent colours he used to add on them. A popular practice at that time,it would infuse a painting-like layer to the photographs and Pradhan attempted to recreate the same visual quality in the period portions of Rang De Basanti. “I didn’t want them to be the typical sepia,but like black and white that has aged,” he says.

In all the four decades he has spent in the industry,Pradhan’s most easily definable characteristic remains the aesthetic pleasantness of its frames. Does it become a hindrance while shooting more realistic,gritty scenes? “I like my frames to be soft and pleasant,not necessarily pretty. I can be gritty in my own way,like Parinda,which is devoid of all gloss,” he says.

One of the reasons why Pradhan could ever move out from a small-town commoners’ life to become one of Bollywood’s most respected cinematographers is his openness towards newer things; employing new technologies and experimenting with them. Since Mausam,he has moved into digital and in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag,he employed an inventive trick of the camera to enhance its sports scenes. “Even though Farhan (Akhtar) ran really fast,I had to make him look as fast as Milkha Singh. I had to use a fast-forward like effect to make it seem like that,” he says.

Pradhan is currently shooting for 2 States,and will start on Assamese director Jahnu Barua’s next film,Homing Pigeons. “The only criterion for me to do a film is the comfort level with the director and I usually know it in the first few meetings. All I want from the director is the creative freedom and the basic respect for the visual medium,” he says. About influences,he only mentions Satyajit Ray’s reliable collaborator Subrata Mitra and The Godfather for its layered brilliance and how it still gives him the best camera lessons.