Y.Sunita Chowdhary
Cinematographer Vamsi Patchipulusu is showering praise on producers. After a seven month gap, they have taken a proactive approach to bring things back to normal and in the coming few months, we shall be seeing a lot more production houses rolling their projects. Those who began shooting before the lockdown are on a war footing wrapping up the pending work which includes post-production. The target is Pongal, when theatres will have to open and welcome the crowd. The people should put their fears aside, watch movies by following the safety rules set by the government. The feeding the theatres get will infuse confidence in scores of people whose lives are dependent on this sector. Vamsi in this chat with Klapboardpost.com, apart from expressing his excitement, discusses why he works with a certain team mostly and gives us a peak into his up and coming project ‘Major’. This is his first ever bio-pic that is sure to enthral the pan-Indian audience.
Director Sashikiran Tikka, actor Sesh Adivi, music composer Sricharan Pakala, art director Avinash Kolla and Vamsi Pacchipulusu have been teaming for projects like Kshanam, Goodachari, Evaru, Kshanam and now Major. Vamsi terms it as a combination of destiny and coincidence, the coming of all the friends together. “It is a perfect synch. Sesh and I got associated for the making of KISS and I have been called back for Kshanam and Goodachari and then Evaru. Shaneil was working on KISS and Ravikanth Perepu, my junior, spoke to me about this film around 2011 and 2012. At that point of time, I was for some reason frustrated with the film industry and went back to Vizag. Ravi said they were shooting in Vizag, the US portion was done and around 20 to 30 percent was left to be shot in Hyderabad and Vizag. Shaniel wanted a focus puller and I filled the space,” says Vamsi. A focus puller’s job is the hardest job on the crew as the person has a multitude of responsibilities. He is also known as 1st Assistant Camera and needs to shoulder on the set more than most people could possibly think. He is obligated for pulling focus, besides building the camera, changing lenses, customising camera configurations for the operator, making necessary adjustments to the settings and usually keeping an eye on the camera package with assistance provided by the 2nd AC.
After having worked with Sesh and Shaneil with whom Vamsi shared strong technicalities, he was asked to join them for Kshanam. It was a one crore budget film and they used small cameras. He turned operative cameraman for Kshanam and second unit camera man for Goodachari. It started as a coincidence and they all gelled so well. “Kshanam became a binding force. Everyone in the team was young and we all wanted to give something new. We were only a 15 member crew and the script was out of the box. All our ideologies matched and yes, apart from sharing a good rapport we do recommend each other for different projects,” shares the cinematographer. He adds, “We all get excited by the story. I might be excited with equipment, others with the emotion and some other person with the screenplay, but all of us like the story primarily. About Sesh, he picks his subjects carefully, figures out day and night how to achieve the output. Even if you see him awake at 2 or 3 in the morning, he is game to discuss cinema. One month after Evaru’s release I didn’t get any offers. That was the two or three month period when you don’t hear of any new projects and all heroes are busy. We just get to see ongoing projects. So for one month I was in a dilemma. I wondered if I did my work well and had no clue why I wasn’t being approached. Also I am bad at networking and I am forever outdated with movie info. At that time Major was announced and they were toying with either having Shaneil or me. Both Shaneil and I share a strong bond. It is mutual, whenever I am busy he gets in. Our style is almost the same.”
Music composer Sri Charan offered counsel and Vamsi is ever grateful for that. He told the cinematographer, “Take it if they offer the project. You never know when the next time you’ll be given a bio-pic and that too of a national hero.” Vamsi got to take references from real life for the first time. He shares, “All these years, we took references from other films, tweaked it, adapted it to our style etc which is an open secret. There was a lot to be told about Sandeep Unnikrishnan. I researched a bit and went for a narration to director Sashi who was for the past four months doing a lot of spade work on the real life hero. Sony Pictures and Mahesh Babu are producers. Sashi met Sandeep’s parents, his friends, relatives, childhood friends, guests at the Taj, NSG and 7th Bihar Regiment. His narration excited me. Each of us in the team work with an approach of giving it a 100 percent. Hits and flops don’t trouble us, there are a number of good films which didn’t do well at the theatres but got wholesome appreciation for that. If the film for some reason doesn’t work, I introspect. I always say that this one should be remembered.”
He further says, “Sesh always says a film is for posterity. I am so lucky that I am into film making and I can produce an image that will be archived for generations. The images I capture will be there forever. When the director does his research and narrates the story, I visualise it and when it is out, and I ask myself isn’t this what I saw when I heard the story? There will be one or two frames in the story that will be imprinted in my head during the narration and I go by it. I am now a part of the process which turns a real life into fantasy; earlier it was fantasy which I would bring to real. This is perhaps reverse engineering. We shot in Mumbai, we recreated where the action took place. We made a huge set of Taj corridors at RFC. The corridor has three floors. We shot four days and then there was this lockdown, we had to leave the set for 4 or 5 months and again get back to the sets. We shot around sixty to seventy percent. The terrorists got into the hotel in the night and the firing took place through the next day which was when the NSG stepped in. This one incident is enough for a filmmaker to weave 100 stories. The 26/11 attack was made in different perspectives. In our story, 26/11 starts in the middle of the film in which we have a lot to say about Sandeep as a person. The movie duration will be around 2 hour 15 to 20 minutes.”
Patriotic films are always moving and inspiring. Sandeep’s story begins from his childhood and then moves to his career in the Army. Vamsi shares info that will not affect the narrative in any way. “Sandeep has impressive qualities. Once he decided to travel home, one of his colleagues in the Army had an issue, he was in financial trouble. Sandeep emptied all the money he had with him and from his bank too, to help him. He didn’t have a penny to buy a ticket. It was a short life but he completed his work and left. His story is inspiring, we never know what happens the next minute. I am a huge follower of karma. I believe if your karma is very strong it will carry forward. Look at us, we are talking about him, we are doing a film on him.”
Vamsi is also working on a film that is directed by Sowjanya and has Naga Shourya in the lead. He is happy having Sowjanya as the director and also the fact that it is a drama. He comments, “We sadly have no cinematographer who is a female here, I always wanted to hire a female associate for my team. They have a unique perspective of given things and for example, I can’t keep my home like my mom does. They have a unique eye, they are no misfits when they are around. A shift to this film, is a different change in terms of genre, equipment, approach and keeps me inspiring. I have been working every day for the past two months on these two films and it isn’t stressful at all.”
