Y.Sunita Chowdhary
Shamdat Sainudeen, acclaimed cinematographer is currently awaiting the release of Uppena. His next is with Deva Katta with whom he had worked earlier in Prasthanam. A man who believes in himself, his craft, he had opted to work in Kerala when he was at the peak of his career and when Bollywood beckoned him. A self taught cinematographer, he never gave up in the face of humiliation and always looked at life with positivity and believes in never ever giving up a dream. In a conversation with Klapboardpost.com, Shamdat talks about how he hated academics, how much he longed to buy a camera and finally how he became a cinematographer in the film industry with the help of his mentor Ravi K Chandran. Shamdat has been spending time in the lockdown shooting film with his iphone, reading, writing scripts and putting his thoughts together for an interesting tomorrow. Though he is soft spoken, low profile, he doesn’t think twice to speak his mind.
School Days: I was born in Palakkad and my parents were teachers. I wasn’t too good in studies and was considered an embarrassment. Usually it is expected that children of teachers do well academically and I was under immense pressure. I was interested in acting, I would mimic people and my father would write dramas and that’s how I evinced keen interest in that space. I would get good marks in languages but was poor in Math and Sciences and spend most of the time wasting time at school. I don’t talk much but I get excited if I see some good films and I would be waiting to narrate my experience to my friends. My friends thought I was a bad narrator and would tell me to be silent. My parents hardly had time for me or my brother and we would spend most of the time walking kilometres to the bus stop. I would change two buses to reach school. Till the seventh standard, I would accompany my father but later I was on my own due to different timings. During pre degree, I would sit in the railway station and observe people. Around that time I got a chance to go for the Child Welfare Camp in Assam. Four or five boys and girls would represent their State, and they came from all over India. I represented my State and we all got to share rooms. We had to create some programme or the other while we stayed together; This was despite not knowing the language. Since I was from a government school, my English wasn’t good but somehow I tried to communicate. At the time of leaving we all got very emotional. After decades we got in touch on FaceBook with the students we shared our room with and it was a beautiful moment. One guy became a government officer and one girl from Guwahati became a scientist. She got married to another scientist and lives in Nepal. She remarked that the forests we show on screen aren’t real and I should actually go along with her and see the real forest, the beautiful one. She was working in the forests.
Fracas with father continues: I failed in the twelfth standard and my father was very upset, he said I was doing something else other than studies and that hurt me a lot. My point was that there are a lot of things one can do in this world other than studying and he kept saying that I am not even qualified to be a constable. Meanwhile I heard about a film institute in Trivendrum that doesn’t ask for a degree. I saw a Mohanlal film and my friends kept commenting that cinematography was very good. I said it was ‘focus out’. I was not bothered about the content and I merely commented on the visuals. One day my father brought home a normal, automatic camera. I tried, that was my first click and I remember my father telling me not to waste negative, and that was valuable. I wanted to know more about photography. I wanted to get into the film institute, he wanted me to opt for computer education. Actually he just wanted me to get a certificate, and finish one course completely. I finally managed to go to the film institute and I participated in some programmes. I was told I had potential and that I should try my hand at acting. My father still insisted on a certificate, valued it and I was still trying to get clarity on my future. I was sure I didn’t want to act and later beg for opportunities. Instead I began taking notes on photography and began looking at things in my own perspective.
Elusive dream of buying a camera: I began watching a lot of international cinema, would attend film festivals and write notes. There would be only four or five people as an audience and I would be one among them. The film would be boring but I would watch it completely. One day I asked my father if he would buy me a camera but he said no. He hated the fact that I would spend the rest of my life clicking photos at some marriage function or at a photo studio. He would be reprimanding me daily and the atmosphere at home wasn’t congenial. I would go and sit under a tree or spend time at a fort, get back home. That was the routine till I met a friend’s acquaintance who promised me a job in Tirupur. I was under the impression that if I work for a month I can accumulate money to buy a camera. My parents didn’t like the idea of me going but I left. I was on a bus soon on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border and it was stuck in a traffic jam. After fours of waiting the bus moved and reached Tirupur. I had a terrible experience, it was a slum and it was very bad. I was shocked and ran away. I was too egoistic to return home and took up some painting job. There I was humiliated and I left that place too. I missed home, parents and I told myself that my anger on my parents wasn’t justified. They were after all asking me to only study well, nothing else. My father was shocked to see me back, I was unrecognisable, in a beard. He was upset and very worried about me and my mother convinced him that she would talk to me. The problem with teachers is that they expect us to become doctors and engineers and at that point of time, my only ambition was to buy a camera. Next morning, in all seriousness, my father questioned me as to what I was planning to do for the future. I said I wanted a camera. When I was in the film institute, I acted in a tele film and the photographer of that film was around working in Shaji Kailash’s film. I went up to him and requested him to speak to my father about my interest in photography. The gentleman did. He told my father that he has been pleading his son to work with him as a camera assistant and it was not happening. He would be glad to take me provided I had a camera with me. Miraculously, my father got me a camera within two hours. I never worked with the gentleman and never saw him after that.
My stint as a photographer: I started off taking pictures of the bride and groom in a wedding and many offers came up immediately. Within days I made ten thousand rupees. I took my first salary and gave it to my father and he refused to take it. He said that I worked hard for it and I should spend it on myself, but he was very clearly not happy with what I was doing. If he saw me at a wedding with a camera, he would distance himself from me, he found it humiliating. People would be happy with me as I would give them the wedding album in two days while the rest would take months together, waiting for their advance payments. I bagged many orders and slowly people began asking album one for the bride and one for the groom’s side too. I showed my creative side here, I would see the wedding as a story and click pictures from heights and different angles. The album would look like a movie, the people’s expressions, the candid photos etc. I hardly had any expenses, so I saved money, took some loan from my father and a friend and made a short film. Meanwhile I would give money to my unemployed friends and they would be more than happy to carry my bag. Next, I wanted to do movies. I got a National and State award for still photography. I was taking pictures without a flash.
When I was making that film, my father was upset and said I was wasting his money. I made the film and won the State award, it was titled Dominion. I was the DoP and the director was a 19 year old youth. I didn’t waste my mornings, I would go for press photography every morning, I loved those trips on the bike. I didn’t want to see or read the world’s best photography books, I wanted to make something new, create my own brand. One day unfortunately I saw a book of a still photographer and I knew where I stood. Life was meaningless, I didn’t want to take pictures of flowers, paddy fields and mountains. A photographer gave me a zoom lens and I was thrilled, I could never forget that moment. My ambition is not about clicking wedding photos, I want to do something else.
Inroads into cinema: I wanted to meet director Bharathan and I was told Ravi Yadav is the cameraman of his film. I showed the photographs I clicked to the production controller and told him of my interest in assisting Ravi Yadav. Next morning I was called to the sets and was given the job of assisting him for three days. His assistants were all from Tamil Nadu. After three days I was told to travel with them to Ooty for a film shoot, the scenes were being shot on Aravind Swamy and Sreedevi. After the schedule, Ravi Yadav left for Chennai and I took my bag, and went in search of him to Chennai. I was in Chennai without any addresses. I didn’t have a diary so I couldn’t call anyone. I didn’t want to go back to Palakkad, I wanted to work in the film industry and didn’t know how to reach Ravi Yadav. I finally met him and he said he was doing Telugu films and I was advised to return to Palakkad. I didn’t want to go back and become a still photographer. After a few months of no food and money, I went back home. I was sick. It was then I made Dominion. One of my friends was working for a television company, he wanted a cameraman. I volunteered. I was reluctantly taken and I assured my work would be good or else I would compensate them for any loss. They liked my work and asked me to continue. I was shooting with an ad film director and he asked me about my work experience. I told him about my ten day stint with Ravi Yadav. He saw my film (Dominion) and said I’ll be a very good cameraman. I told him about my nil contacts in the industry and he offered to take me to a shoot for Ravi K Chandran’s (RKC) film.
My mentor, my guide: I was afraid to work with big people and would constantly hide on the sets. RKC invited me home and I showed my short film. He offered me a job as his assistant and a sum of five thousand rupees. He even told me to share a room with Ravi Verman. I refused and moved into another place. One day, I was taken for a shoot with Priyadarshan. I told them there is double reflection on the lens in the last part of the shoot when they were winding up for the day. They did a reshoot after my remark. Ravi K Chandran introduced me to all as his new assistant. He said “When you work with me, you can see more people and experience a lot of equipment. If you market yourself, you can be a good camera man. Don’t be an assistant for a long time and within a year you should become a cameraman.” That worked on me. I was with him till Dil Chahata Hai. At that time I got an advertisement and moved on. I left Mumbai and went to the South. Ravi sir wanted me to be in Bollywood but I preferred South. I love Kerala, when you do a Malayalam film, you are faced with budget problems and time limitations. In such pressure, our creativity is put to test and we make good films. We try to cover up all limitations with quality. We don’t do wastage and value money and product.
