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Cinematographer Krishnan Vasant prefers to not distract audiences. “I like to make use of the visible language to emotionally engineer them in the direction of the narrative. I attempt to stability type and realism,” he says. The try to preserve the visuals grounded and let the characters take centrestage is obvious in his Telugu movie, The Girlfriend directed by Rahul Ravindran, starring Rashmika Mandanna.
Krishnan, who has labored on greater than 10 movies in Tamil and Telugu, is ecstatic with the response to The Girlfriend. “It’s gratifying to see ladies flip up in massive numbers and champion the movie in theatres,” he says.
The Bengaluru-based cinematographer divides his time between Chennai and Hyderabad for Tamil and Telugu cinema. Born in Bengaluru, he grew up in Chennai the place he went to movie faculty.
Krishnan’s father gave him a point-and-shoot digital camera for his seventh birthday, and he has been fascinated by pictures ever since. “My mother and father gave me a guitar, mridangam, and violin, to see what I gravitated in the direction of.”
Classes from Balu Mahendra
In highschool, he developed an curiosity in the direction of design and artwork although he was a Science scholar. The turning level got here when his mom, a shopper service govt with Prasad Labs, launched him to veteran filmmaker Balu Mahendra throughout a summer time break. “I confirmed him my images and he took me beneath his wing. My first-ever lesson in utilizing the digital camera got here from him; I nonetheless have these sheets.” The learnings formed his curiosity in avenue and documentary images.
Krishnan Vasant
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Particular Association
Inspired by Balu Mahendra, Krishnan studied visible communication at Loyola School. Initially, he was within the promoting subject, to promote merchandise via compelling visible tales. However watching and dissecting movies for the Components of Filmmaking class opened up his world to cinema. That can be when he rewatched Mani Ratnam’s Iruvar. Krishnan then pursued movie research on the LV Prasad School of Media Research.
Krishnan’s first movie was the 2013 Tamil film Kalyana Samayal Saadham. Buddy, the Telugu remake of the Tamil movie Teddy, marked his entry into Telugu cinema.
Nevertheless, he was already on board for a movie directed by Rahul Ravindran starring Rashmika, to be produced by Geetha Arts. “That movie bought shelved, and we regrouped for The Girlfriend,” he says.
The collaboration with Rahul was an sudden however completely satisfied flip of occasions. Krishnan was taken in by director Tharun Bhascker’s 2016 Telugu movie Pelli Choopulu, which he describes as “a small movie with an enormous coronary heart.” “If ever it was remade in Tamil, I needed to be part of it.”
A lot later, when he learnt {that a} Tamil remake was being deliberate, he contacted the producer. “I used to be informed that they weren’t a longtime cinematographer on account of funds limitations, however I used to be eager. I took an enormous pay reduce and labored on Oh Manapenne. Throughout the pandemic, the movie was launched immediately on a digital platform. Rahul occurred to observe this movie and informed the director that he preferred my visible aesthetics.”
“In the meantime, I had watched Rahul’s debut movie Chi La Sow and noticed how he broke away from the norm. I known as to thank him and stated I’d wish to work with him some day.”
When the preliminary movie for which he and Rahul had been to collaborate bought shelved, Krishnan took up Buddy. Ultimately, Rahul contacted Krishnan for The Girlfriend. “He despatched me the 80-page script one night. I used to be blown by the simplicity of the concept and the good influence it may have. I eagerly waited until daybreak to name Rahul and inform him that I’d be recreation.”
Krishnan labored on a lookbook, detailing the colors, composition, and technical elements. Rahul and he had additional discussions with the manufacturing and costume departments. For this character-driven story, Krishnan needed the cinematography to be uncluttered.
4 chapters
He needed to obtain a curious stability although. Rashmika, a pan-India star, was to painting a younger, middle-class girl. “The lighting needed to flatter her, but not seem flashy. Her character, Bhooma, wanted to face out greater than her star aura.”
Additional, he broke the movie into 4 chapters and lit Rashmika’s face accordingly. “The thought was to comply with her emotional arc. Beginning with a shiny frontal gentle, to half lit faces, and reverting to a shiny entrance lighting with a color distinction for the climax. It isn’t one thing that can leap out as a design; I saved it muted and refined.”
Rahul Ravindran and Krishnan Vasant on the units of ‘The Girlfriend’
| Photograph Credit score:
Particular Association
Appreciable parts had been filmed on the NALSAR College of Legislation campus in Hyderabad. “We designed the visuals in such a method so nothing could be in your face, not even using crimson for Vikram’s (Dheekshith Shetty) parts that counsel that his character is a crimson flag.”
Krishnan needed the hostel rooms of Rashmika and Dheekshith to seem ethereal, even when small, and the manufacturing division designed makeshift rooms on the campus corridors, permitting the sunshine from the home windows so as to add depth.
“I used full format lenses, and saved the depth of focus shallow in order that the eye is on Rashmika. Even the smaller places get an phantasm of bigger area in such a way,” Krishnan explains.
Softer color tones had been used for Rashmika’s costumes, contrasting Dheekshith’s blue in some sequences. Krishnan says the selection of colors didn’t stem from gender stereotyping. “Pinks and whites characterize freedom and life whereas blue represents conformity to norms.”
The mirror sequence that includes Rashmika and Rohini, and the bathe sequence wherein the partitions shut in on Rashmika are being extensively mentioned. Krishnan says the mirror sequence was pretty easy to execute. “A day previous to capturing, we determined the digital camera angles and the sunshine, and I blocked the pictures utilizing my iPad. On this sequence, the protagonist has a hallucination. The panic assault she experiences quickly after dictates her journey. It needed to be dramatic however look actual.”
Krishnan acknowledges the efficient use of mirrors in Mani Ratnam’s filmography: “To look at ourselves within the mirror is a fundamental trait, and his movies used it nicely.”
Bodily, movable partitions
For the bathe sequence, Krishnan recollects how Rahul, being an actor himself, needed the partitions to be bodily moved in order that Rashmika’s portrayal of concern is lifelike. “We arrange the scene in a studio and the manufacturing crew moved the partitions at strategic factors. Visible results had been used solely to finetune the end result.”
Reflecting on The Girlfriend, Krishnan says, “The storytelling was easy in order to achieve most audiences. It was liberating to craft visuals organically from the script, slightly than counting on hacks the way in which we do for a mass movie. My spouse watched the movie and stated she was happy with me; that was my greatest award.”
Krishnan is now engaged on debut director Jason Sanjay’s Tamil movie Sigma starring Sundeep Kishan, and Anurag Kashyap’s Tamil movie Unkill 123 directed by Sam Anton. The latter entails visible experimentation: “With every movie, I problem myself and attempt to keep away from a signature type.”
Printed – November 19, 2025 04:14 pm IST
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