“I am a native of Warangal and becoming a Cinematographer was never my choice during my growing up years. It’s only by chance that I entered this field, while my plan was to be a fashion photographer.
The biggest lesson I’ve learnt during my stint in the film industry is that you need to be prepared to work under incredibly challenging circumstances. Every day is a fight as there goes a lot of effort from different departments during the production process of any film. In the last decade or so, I’ve worked with the big directors like Ram Gopal Varma, Krishna Vamsi, SS Rajamouli, Gunashekar and Chandra Shekhar Yeleti and I will never complain about having a better journey than this. There have been few ups and downs, but I’ve always stayed true to myself and the work I do. I remember distinctly how one of my seniors in the college once told me I will be a maverick cameraman because of what he thought about my technical nuances in photography. I always wanted to experiment with the compositional elements beyond the rules and that made me to enter into films. It was also the time when I was waiting for my opportunities in the field. We are in the transitional phase from reel to digital and it was a challenging phase for all the aspiring shutterbugs during those days. Fortunately, things fell into place and I met director Chandra Siddharth who gave me an opportunity to join as an apprentice for his film Aa Naluguru which was a path breaking film during those days.
When I look back, I’m proud of the decision I made to become a cinematographer because I absolutely love this profession. One of the best moments of my journey was working with the legendary actor Mohanlal for the film Manamantha and he’s truly an inspiration for every aspiring film enthusiast with the amount of hard work he puts in even at the age of 58. There’s no other way to survive, it’s all about commitment towards the work we do that reflects on the final output of the film.”
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