• Source: Ramachandra Babu

K. Ramachandra Babu (15 December 1947 – 21 December 2019) was an Indian cinematographer of over 125 films, out of which most are Malayalam films. He also worked for films in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Arabic and English languages. He served as the cinematographer for several documentaries and advertisement films as well. He was the founder of the Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC).




Early life and career


Ramachandra Babu was born on 15 December 1947 in Maduranthakam at Chengalpattu District, Tamil Nadu, as the eldest son of Malayali parents, Kunjan Pillai and Padmini Amma, both from Alappuzha, Kerala. After obtaining his B.Sc. (Chemistry) degree from Loyola College, Madras in 1966, he went on to join the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune to study cinematography. In the Institute, he made friends with Balu Mahendra, John Abraham and K.G. George, who would go on to become noted film directors. He obtained his Diploma in Cinema (Motion Picture Photography) in 1971.
He made his feature film debut in 1971 as a cinematographer even before completing his FTII course, for Vidyarthikale Ithile Ithile. It was also the debut film of director John Abraham and writer Azad. Ramachandra Babu became noted in the industry after he served as the cinematographer for Nirmalyam (1973) and Swapnadanam (1976), which were directorial debuts of M.T. Vasudevan Nair and K.G. George, respectively. All these films were shot in Black & White.




Later career


Ramachandra Babu's first colour film (Eastman Color) was Dweepu (1977), directed by Ramu Kariat, and it won him his first Kerala State Film Award for Best Cinematography. He went on to win 3 more State Awards for Rathinirvedam (1978) and Chamaram (1980), directed by Bharathan, and Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha (1989), directed by Hariharan.
He played a prominent role in ushering in the technical advancements in cinematography into Malayalam cinema. The transition from Black & White to colour aside, he served as the cinematographer for the first CinemaScope film to be shot in South India, Alavuddinum Athbutha Vilakkum (1979), directed by I. V. Sasi. Despite featuring major stars like Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth and Jayabharathi, the film was delayed and another CinemaScope film Thacholi Ambu (1978) was released ahead of it, leaving the latter to be considered as the first CinemaScope film in South India. He was the cinematographer of the first film to be released with 70 mm film in Malayalam. The film, Padayottam (1982), directed by Jijo Punnoose, was from the production house of Thacholi Ambu, Navodaya. The film was photographed in CinemaScope format and was converted to 70 mm blow-up prints with 6-track magnetic stereo sound during post-production.
His noted films include Nirmalyam (1973 – National Award For Best Feature Film, directed by M. T. Vasudevan Nair), Swapnadanam (1975 – Kerala State Film Award for Best Film, directed by K. G. George), Bandhanam (1978 – Kerala State Best Film, directed by M. T. Vasudevan Nair), Agraharathil Kazhuthai (1978 – Best Tamil Film – National Award, directed by John Abraham), Sandhyakku Virinja Poovu directed by P.G. Viswambharan, Itha Ivide Vare directed by I. V. Sasi), Patita (1980 – Hindi, directed by I. V. Sasi), Yavanika (directed by K. G. George) & Marmaram (directed by Bharathan), both Kerala State Best Film Award – 1982, Padayottam (first Malayalam 70 mm feature film, 1982, directed by Jijo), Pagal Nilavu (1985 – Tamil, directed by Mani Rathnam), Oru Vadakkan Veera Gaadha (1989 – Malayalam, directed by Hariharan), Aadhaaram (1992 – Malayalam, directed by George Kithu), Sallapam (1996 – Malayalam, directed by Sunder Das), Ghazal (1993 – Malayalam, directed by Kamal), Kanmadam (1998 – Malayalam, directed by Lohithadas), Beyond the Soul (English – 2003 – directed by Rajiv Anchal) and Al-Boom (Arabic – 2005 – directed by Khaled Abdul Raheem Al-Zadjali).




Awards



Kerala State Film Award for Best Cinematography
1976 – Dweepu
1978 – Rathinirvedam
1980 – Chamaram
1989 – Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha
Kerala Film Critics Award (1981) : Nidhra
Kerala Film Critics Award (2009) : Kadaksham




Filmography


The list of films for which Ramachandra Babu served as the director of cinematography:




= Unreleased films

=
Kaadhal Viduthalai (Tamil) – Dir: Jayakumar
Puthiya Swarangal (Tamil) – Dir: Vijayan
Puthu Mazhathullikal (Malayalam) – Dir: Raghavan
Kavaadam (Malayalam) – Dir: K.R.Joshi
Professor Dingan (director) - Died during the production




Gallery






References






External links



Official website
Ramachandra Babu at IMDb
The Hindu: Metro Plus: Tiruchirapalli: Cinema goes haiku
The Hindu: Friday Review Thiruvananthapuram / Cinema: Waxing lyrical on film
Official Website of Information and Public Relation Department of Kerala

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha
• Aranmanai 4
• M. R. Acharekar
• Institut Film dan Televisi India
• Nirmalyam
• Arri
• Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire
• Kajol
• Uttam Kumar
• Adi Pherozeshah Marzban
• Ramachandra Babu
• Nirmalyam
• Ramachandra Boss & Co
• Pagal Nilavu
• Vilkkanundu Swapnangal
• Ravi K. Chandran
• Unaroo
• Padayottam (1982 film)
• O' Faby
• Mammootty