Shooting to fame

When the national awards were declared, Appu Prabhakar was in a theatre. His phone was buzzing with congratulatory messages. The young cinematographer, who won the Best Cinematography Award (non-feature) for the 17-minute long Malayalam short movie Eye Test at the 65th National Film Awards, had no clue about the achievement. “Sudha (director) hinted to me about the possibility of an award, but I wasn’t expecting it,” he says smiling. 

Appu, who chanced upon photography, became a part of Eye Test that travels through the memories of a girl, after pursuing a film course at Satyajit Ray Institute and working as second camera operator in Amal Neerad’s Comrade in America (CIA). A mechanical engineering graduate, he worked in a company for two years before joining the film institute. 

Cinematography caught his fancy while working in Dharwad. It was the photograph of a father and son playing at a beach against the background of the sunset he took once that awakened the photographer lying dormant inside. “I wanted to know what made the composition so interesting and started learning still photography by myself,” says Appu, who later got into Satyajit Ray Institute to specialise in cinematography. The institute days widened his knowledge and changed his perspective about life. “The class was an interesting mix of students belonging to various age groups and hailing from different cultures. It was a learning experience – to work with them and listen to their life experiences,” says Appu. 

He did six projects as part of the course. One of the films Randu Kurippukal was selected as the best film at Kolkata international film festival. After diploma, Appu, who wanted to try his hand at commercial cinema, moved to Kerala instead of Mumbai, the regular choice of film buffs. Amal Neerad was about to start CIA and Appu joined the team. “It helped me understand the industry better and make good friends,” he says. 

After CIA, came Eye Test. “Sudha somehow heard about me and contacted me. Eye Test was her thesis film.” The shooting of Eye Test was at Kozhikode, the native place of Appu, who believes that every film should have its own visual language that is maintained throughout the film.  

“It is arrived during the pre-production time after numerous discussions and exchange of ideas between the director, art director, costumer and et al,” he says. “There should be an idea about lensing, perspectives, camera movements and colour tone to convey the mood. While doing a project, we should adopt angles that the subject demands. There are two kinds of camera works — impressive and expressive. I think the latter stays in the audience’s minds.”  

For Eye Test, he created a language that conveys the emotions of a mother-daughter relationship through subtle camera movements and lighting. “There was a progression in camera movements. The perspectives as small child are dynamic and playful, while the perspective of the grown up is almost static. Dynamism reappears at the climax, a dream sequence,” he says. 

“I think Sudha has drawn elements from her life to write the story. The detailing in her script helped in camera work. In short films like Eye Test, one has the space to experiment in terms of narrative style and form, which is not available in commercial movies mostly,” says Appu, who later did independent feature films with Praveen Sukumaran, his senior; Saurav Rai, his batch mate and Sooraj Tom. “In between, I also assisted in Carbon,” says the cinematographer, who yearns to create more visual languages on screen.