as the River flows : about masters and legends…(part I)

Bidyut Kotoky   | Movie-Blog | December 7, 2009 at 10:19 am         Print

‘Today as u kindle sparklers when u light up lamps, while u eat sweets, take a second to remember unfortunate who made them & dedicate this day to them. Happy Diwali.’…On the Diwali morning, amongst many sms’s this particular message caught my attention. One look at sender’s name reconfirms my suspicions. Yes, the message was send by non other than my cinematographer Mr Madhu Ambat.

It was quite an interesting first encounter with Madhu sir in Goa on November 2009. Both of us were there as a part of the screen writer’s lab, organized as a part of Indian film festival by National Film Development Corporation. Of course I knew of him. The cinematographer of films like Anjali, Provoked, Lajja, Adi Shankaracharya and some 200 others, Madhu Ambat was an institution. After the initial briefing of the screen writer’s lab where we were asked to introduce our project in one minute, there was a tea break. I went up to him to introduce myself. And his first words were, “I would like to shoot your film”. Taken aback, I replied –“Sir, it is an honour – but I don’t think I can afford you!” “Who is talking about money?”- he retorted.

It was too good to be true. It took some time to sink in. And he took the initiatives to introduce me to many of his friends in Goa film festival as the director of the film he is going to shoot next! Reknowned Malayalam  filmmaker and winner of multiple  national awards, Mr T.V. Chandran , told me – “Now that you have Madhu as your cinematographer, 60% of your worry is over…” During the making of the film, I’ve realised that he was wrong – once you got Madhu sir as Director of Photography of your film, 80% of your worry is taken care off…

On a one particularly punishing day of location hunting, one of my assistant directors had asked Madhu Sir if he is feeling tired. With a smile, he replied, “No – I don’t feel tired working. The first three letter of my name actually explains my state of mind…” And he was not exaggerating. During every day of our shoot, I had to struggle to keep pace with this gentleman who had managed to retain his childlike zeal and innocence after spending more than 35 years on the profession…

Once I asked Madhu sir, “During your career, have you ever done a film for money?” Without batting an eyelid he replied, “Never. But I had shot many bad films because of friendship…”

Thank you sir for being a part of my film. And I will try my level best to ensure that when I approach you for my next film, you don’t have to do it just for friendship…

“Have you heard of born again catholic? You must be aware that they are more conservatives than many catholic. In the same way, I’m a converted Assamese. I have spent more time in Assam than you two put together. And I won’t say a single word against my people in any film” – that was the first reaction we got when me and my wife Pallavi met legendary actor Victor Banerjee for my film in Goa even before he read my script. I knew him as the only actor in the world who worked with three of the all time great directors – Satyajit Ray, David Lean & Roman Polanski. But as time progressed, I got to know him more….

(to be continued…)