Making Madhuri look good

We admired his work in Don.

Now, cinematographer KU Mohanan is back with Madhuri Dixit Nene's comeback vehicle, Aaja Nachle which, interestingly is directed by cinematographer turned director, Anil Mehta.

Both the cinematographer also happened to be good friends and have known each other for 18 years.

Patcy N caught up with Mohanan for his take on Madhuri, the film and how it feels to have two cinematographers on board!

Don was done in a very stylish manner. How about Aaja Nachle?

You can't use one particular style for any kind of stories. A good cinematographer should be able to revise a new style according to the story. Don was a very contemporary thriller so it had to be shot in very stylish manner. You have to be consistent of your style from beginning to end. I used very wide low angle shots and really dramatic angles for Don.

But for Aaja Nachle all this was not required as the story is about a very small town, and hence it was not required to be very stylish. I discussed this with Anil (Mehta), who himself is a cinematographer. In the end we decided that we would have a non-intrusive style of cinematography where we would just capture the mood of the town.

How difficult is it to work with a cinematographer who is making his first film?

I've known Anil

for a very long time. We have a very similar way of thinking -- the way we look at cinema though we have completely different styles of working. From so many cinematographers he chose me to capture his film. We had no arguments at all. Temperamentally he is a very cool person. In case of any disagreements, we would sit and talk it over.

What were the new things that you used for this movie?

Technically we did not use anything new. We used very simple and basic cinematography. However, we tried a different and dramatic ending, which I'm not allowed to disclose.

How has Madhuri been shot in the film?

Madhuri is extremely beautiful. When she comes on the sets and starts smiling, an electric wave goes through you. The way she dances is extremely outstanding. So I didn't have to do much for her to look good. But yes, when you shoot in daylight and the sun hits directly on the face, that is the time I have to control her texture.

I read somewhere that there is a black and white scene in the movie for which you discussed with well known cinematographer VK Murthy...

There is a flashback scene in colour, which I did not speak to VK Murthy about. But yes, I really admire his work and have seen some of it in Guru Dutt's films.

What do you think about this year's big movies and how they are shot?

Chak De was shot very brilliantly by Sudeep Chaterjee. It was very spaciously shot. K Ravi Chandran also deserves mention for his work in Saawariya.