Q. When was your first tryst with movies?
Ans. My association with cinema started long back in 1979, when I was studying in Bombay. I worked in LV Prasad's office as an accountant while in collage for the pocket money.
Around then, 5 assistants left L. V. Prasad at the same time and I was asked to fill in. It was pure chance. L.V. Prasad was not very active at that time but he was planning a new subject.
Then Ek Duje Ke Liye happened. I was asked to help because I was the only one who knew Hindi and Tamil because of my Bombay upbringing. I joined Mr Balachander as his assistant. After Ek Duje Ke Liye, he got many Hindi film offers and he called me to Chennai. And from then on, I worked in all of Balachander's films.
I had no great passion for direction or movies. I would just go and watch movies but did not think that one I would be directing one someday. Nobody in the family is from the film field.
Joining Mr Balachander was a major turning point. His passion for movies, the way he constructed a scene, the way he conceived it, the way he edited it, inspired me and I slowly started enjoying the process of cinema making. For 7 years I worked with him in 14 movies.
In 1986, I became a director with Satya, produced by Kamal Hassan. In the ensuing 15yrs now I must have done 28-29 movies in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Hindi.
Q. For Alavanthan (Abhay), which was a dual language film, you reshot many scenes. Why did you opt for re-shooting rather than dubbing?
Ans. Dubbing is dubbing. You will not get the right effect. It will be like that television serial from Hindi to Tamil; you know that the Tamil is wrong, but somehow they are managing it, syncing it. The original language beauty will never come through.
Dual language films shoots are fine as long as the actor knows the language. Kamal knew it, so there was no problem.
When we knew that we were making the film in 2 languages, we were very clear that we would avoid wide shots. We actually ended up shooting everything. Songs were overlapping factor in both the language versions so there was very little to reshoot there. Wherever there was a close up, we shot.
Q. What part does technology play in your movie?
Ans. Technologically Balachander had a tremendous knowledge of good cinema. His films were always above standard. Compared to other moviemakers, he always used to stand out because of his techniques, the way he used music, silence and the way he used the media. I think he was one of the best in his own style.
When you come from that kind of grounding automatically, you tend to adopt it in your films. When you've done 14 films for 7 years and have only seen the way he made magic in his film, automatically as his assistant I had to keep up that standard.
Technology as far as I am concerned, should not dominate the film. It should be part of the film. Come what may the story is the main element. Once you have a good storyline, then you should underline the key scenes, around 10 main highlight scenes. Then make sure that they are highlighted, in that use the best of technology. In these paying scenes, I make sure that I do not miss the impact by using technology.
We can't plan everything technically. The basic problem is that it will start taking time. If you have to conceive a film on sound track, you can do. You have to ensure that every time the ambience of the street is on the left side of the screen, you maintain it on the left. The whole script is written with the sound in mind. That is not possible in our limited time and budget and the speed with which we work. But in the highlight scenes, take we take our time and do all that we want to - left, right, centre, surround. I do not do a whole film designed around sound. It has not been possible for me. Alavanthan was the only film where we had time and we did it. That is very rare, to do a film with that time and money. Alavanthan, we shot for 200 days, for Baba, we had only 70 days.
Q. The graphics in your films - is it incidental or planned?
Ans. In Baba, few scenes are planned. In Alavanthan the whole climax scene was planned, with two Kamal's fighting with each other, we knew that it could not be done normally; it had to be done graphically.
But for all the others, while we are shooting a scene suddenly we'd get inspired and say if only we could have a beautiful sky here or some kind of a dramatic visual. And if we could not do it, then immediately we plan a blue screen and shoot it. That was all on-the-spot planning. And we decided to do some graphics on the editing table.
Graphic scenes are very few because not all the producers will spend. But if the story and script demand it, then they don't mind. We have still not come to the full-fledged graphic style of movie. We are still with some action scenes, some risky shots. Most of our films, as far as the conditions we work in, are always impromptu.
In Alavanthan and Baba, the graphic scenes were planned. In Baba, it is one of the main scenes and was planned right from the beginning.
Q. What is your opinion about the Avid?
Ans. The choice of the editing system is again, largely the choice of the producer. Avid is also Many producers do not go in for Avid as they think that it is expensive. But once they opt for the Avid, the whole postproduction becomes digital.
In Alavanthan, the whole movie was edited on the Avid. In Baba, the songs, the action scenes and some very complicated scenes were done on the Avid.
There is nothing like the Avid, you do it and just see it. Avid is excellent.
But what I feel is that in the digital postproduction process, when you doing effects, background music or mix, you do not see the original film tone, hence you do not get the real feel of the film. The colours are not the original colours, its deep and dark. You should judge it keeping in mind how it looked when you shot it. But in the film, the real tone is there, the grandeur is seen, ultimately when good sound and background score is added, I can judge it better.
As far as Avid is concerned, the technique is good, because it is perfect. But the film viewing part, they should do something about it. You should get the real quality of film. Many times, you cut something out because you think it is not important. When you have a footage problem, you tend to edit it. But when you see it on screen, you feel that it looks very good, and say 'why did I edit it?' That is one defect. At least the quality should be DVD quality
Q. You have had the opportunity of working Pro Tools for Baba. And you have worked with the Analog format. How would you compare the two in terms of the time and effort you put in to your work?
Ans. I would like to work with Pro Tools, any day. Analog is always 90% or even 80%. Pro Tools can be 100% and it can go beyond. It is perfection to the last and you can keep on improving.
Q. What is your opinion of the DTS format?
Ans. DTS is very good. All my films are on DTS. The quality of sound is crystal clear. The greatest thing is what I hear here (mixing studio) I hear in the theater. There is no loss in generation. And I know that the footage what I mix will not have any problems, and I will always hear the sound as it was mixed.
Q. How was your experience of working at Media Artists?
Ans. Media Artists is the best. I have always enjoyed working at Media Artists. Sridhar and his team, they are brilliant. It's not a one-man show. Sridhar needs his assistants to help out with the pre-mixes. Its joint work. They give tremendous energy into their work. They are never disappointing. The quality and energy that they put in, I am finally able to see on the screen. It was a great experience.
The much-awaited Rajnikanth film Baba, was released on August 15 amidst fanfare. The film was produced and written by the mega star himself and directed by Suresh Krishna.
