Alai Paayuthe, 2000
Director: Mani Ratnam

The moment I heard the words Alai Paayuthe, my mind was a moving camera. I felt the camera should never remain still in this film; it should have the lyrical quality of a moving picture. When the story was discussed later, I was convinced.

So, when we went to the Andaman Islands, though we carried very few things with us, I made sure we carried the crane that is required for our movement concept.

But I fell into my own trap, because it was difficult to go for continuous movement when shooting indoors, especially in a small house. But we managed.

What is discussed in the film fraternity is the use of colours in the song Pacha niramae. When we landed in Kashmir to shoot the song, I saw only a dry, barren land with no leaves or flowers. The colour came from the chinar trees.

But the song called for vibrant colours in pastel shades. So we used a graduated filter to enhance colour. In fact, we used a lot of filters, While I was working on the song, all these things did not come to my mind. Now, on looking back, I feel it was an adventure.