The turning point

In Mollywood, there is a saying that, friendship plays a crucial role in the success of movies.  The industry has already witnessed the success of films made by friends and about friends. For cinematographer Anish Lal too, it was this factor, which helped him   switch his career from that of editor-designer. Famous for wielding the camera for Rajesh Pillai’s Mili,  Anish is now back in action with Kunchacko Boban’s fun film Jamna Pyari.

“It was after the release of Rajesh chettan’s Mili, I got the call from producer Jaison Elamgulam to work as the cinematographer in Jamna Pyari. While Jaison chettan called me, I was busy with a Tamil project which was all set to start production, which was coinciding with Jamna Pyari. After some days, Chackochan too called me for this project. He told me to go through the script before making a decision. While hearing the script, which was narrated to me by its director Thomas Sebastian, I found it interesting   and I agreed to do this project,” says Anish, who has cranked the camera for the Hindi version of Traffic along with Santhosh Thundiyil.

Anish was assisting cinematographer S.G. Raman, when he got acquainted with Rajesh Pillai. “Raman Chettan was the cinematographer of Rajesh’s serial   Jawahar Colony. That relationship became a turning point. At that time, I was managing an editing studio in Thiruvananthapuram, where I used to edit and do graphic design. At that time, I had done editing for several documentaries directed by Rajesh chettan,” says the cinematographer.

His first association with Rajesh in a feature film was Traffic. He had designed the posters. “I was first called to do the titling and pooja poster of the film. Though it got a good response, owing to certain issues, those designs weren’t used for wall posters. It was after my debut film Street Light as cinematographer that Rajesh Chettan called me to wield the  camera for his road movie Motor Cycle Diaries.  Though we had started location hunting, we stopped as the director got busy with the production of the Hindi version of Traffic. Meanwhile, he called me to work as the cinematographer for that as Santhosh sir got busy with another project,” says Anish who was the co-director in Chennail Oru Naal, the Tamil version of Traffic.

When it comes to Jamna Pyari, Anish says, “It is a feel good movie, which will entertain you totally.”