Kochi: He didn’t have any godfathers or gurus in photography, but learnt the art of photography by following magazines like Vogue, Filmfare and Stardust, which he found at second-hand shops on Marine Drive in Kochi.
Starting off as a fashion photographer for film magazines with a monthly salary of Rs 2,000, Aneesh Upasana has come a long way to become a director. He will don the director’s cap for the second time for the film Seconds.
Aneesh, who earlier directed the Mythili-starrer Matinee, says, “I started my career as a still photographer for film magazines. The one thing I had in my mind then is to get into films. I hung around film sets, took stills of the films and learnt things from scratch. I became friends with the artistes and that helped me a lot.”
Aneesh adds, “I even travelled to Chennai and visited the sets to learn the kind of filmmaking happening there. Even though I have ventured into films, photography still remains my passion and I’m madly in love with it. I’ve been in this field for the past 10 years.” The film Seconds stars Jayasurya, Vinay Forrt and Aparna Nair.
Moving to direction was not a tough call for Aneesh. “I have an idea about the visual frames and have a sense of colours. It’s not a tough thing. There is no formula for filmmaking. Hard work matters a lot. Only if I’m confident of directing a film, will I sign on the dotted line. I am in no hurry to do multiple projects at a time,” says the photographer-turned-director.
Aneesh found recognition in film circles with the stills of Aashiq Abu’s Salt N’ Pepper. In 2011, he entered the Limca Book of National Records for recording a video album Mayamadhavam on a still digital camera. The director says, “It was a great experience directing that video album. It’s the first time in India an album was shot with a still camera. We used Canon 5D Mark 2 for the shoot. The song is sung by actor Bhama and was well received.”
Aneesh has also directed Kavyadalangal, Kavya Madhavan’s debut music album. Aneesh’s major works include stills for A. Geeri Pai Jewellers (Kavya Madhavan), Kalyan Silks, Chemmannur Jewellers (Parvathy Omanakuttan) and Jairaj Builders to name a few.
The director is married to actor Anjali and they have a two-year-old daughter Avani.
