Y.Sunita Chowdhary
“V was scheduled to be released on March 25 but now it will be out only when things get back to normal. The crowd will still have their fears but on the flip side, they would have been tired staying at home and starved for entertainment would flock the theatres,” says cinematographer P.G.Vinda of ‘V’ whose last film was Sammohanam. Sammohanam was largely set indoors yet there was so much breathing space. He won rave reviews for the rom-com and says he got a similar appreciation for Ashta Chemma and Vinayakudu. V is his first attempt at an action thriller. In fact, it is the first time for both him and director Indraganti Mohana Krishna. The duo has worked in around seven films v.i.z Grahanam, Asta Chemma, Bandipotu, Gentleman, Sammohanam, Ami Tumi and V.
The cinematographer shares a wonderful rapport with Mohana Krishna, and just as Sukumar and Ratnavelu…this is another winning combination. About their partnership, he says, “I am comfortable with him and we talk a lot about films. I get a lot of details on lighting as we discuss characters and situations so I deliver better and with time we have been upgrading ourselves. The good thing with him is, he never repeated himself, it is always a different genre so the approach is always different in framing and lighting. He always plans his films, never goes to the location and shoots randomly. Whenever we meet, our topic is always on how to present it, my preparation is good too and I get adequate time. If his story is ready, he will tell me the idea. Once the screenplay is completed and he tells a hero and finalises him, he narrates it to me. That way I get the details of the story very early. With experience, I can say that with other production houses, by the time the director narrates it to the cinematographer, they are already into production leaving no time me for preparation. They are always rushing, they do films without gaps. When you travel on a script, you will do better work than instant work.”
V is essentially an actioner and a thriller. Vinda worked earlier on an action drama titled Loafer directed by Puri Jagannath but this is more like a thriller and not a drama. Most of the cinematographers like images that carry the mood. V is shot in grey locations where there is crying, investigations. He shares, “The texture will change with emotions. If it is different in coffee shops, the crime ambience varies too. We chose some locations in Hyderabad. Since it is a crime scene shot in a thrilling way like David Fincher’s films, the ambience carried the mood.” Ask Vinda what framing according to him is and he says it is the way one composes a shot. Some people follow the basic rules, from the primitive stage all cinematographers follow a thumb rule i.e you should always frame it from the centre, because the audience eyes is always concentrated on the centre of screen; but the golden rule is focus half centre, which is little away from centre. You can do however you want if you feel it’s impact will be better in a different way. If for a particular shot, a frame works out, it enhances the visual.”
Are there any stand out moments in V? He says there is one big action sequence, he enjoyed filming the scene which was shot almost in a real location. “We used minimal light sometimes without light. It looks creepy and holds the darkness and creates an eerie look. The crime is on the darker side and the other side is close to real life. Sudheer is doing the cop role, his side was lit up. When he enters the crime zone, it becomes darker. Indraganti Mohana Krishna doesn’t fake his characters. He likes working with his team again and again,” he concludes apologising for not able to reveal much about the film. You have to watch this one he says with a high degree of confidence…
