ICON VOICE : BINOD PRADHAN
I am sitting in Filmcity Studio no. 9 on the sets, waiting for Binod Pradhan to come. He is having his lunch and I am scanning my questions. As I know very little about cinematography, I aim to maintain a proper ratio of general and specialized questions. However, I am more interested in asking technical questions. I dread the moment when there will be vacuum of questions and I will be forced to ask trivial stuff like what you eat in breakfast and what mosquito-coil you burn just before sleeping. It is always better to ask less but something solid.
I see him come. He has a small green-laser-gun in his right hand and looks nothing less than royalty. We shake hands and enter the hall on the set.
It’s a huge set, something like a lobby. He gets busy with his laser gun on the points , wherever the lighting is improper. As soon as he gets free he calls me. We sit and I give my introduction. I shoot the questions.
# How is cinematography of Rang De Basanti different from Devdas?
· In Devdas most of the scenes are indoor and so the lighting was more technical, in RDB we had relatively more outdoor locations. In Devdas colors are more saturated and richer to enhance the feeling of glory and lavishness on the canvas. Besides in RDB we change the film speed from very high to very low. In opening scene we shot at 4 fps to get the required effect.
# Ta Ra Rum Pum , how its photography is different then others.
· Ya , due to car chasing ,car races and car crashes we went for a lot of rig shots.
# Explain the importance of lab work?
· It can damage your film if not handled properly. Besides it can enhance the effect you are expecting. It can produce that ultimate feel that the director has conceive.
# If a cinematographer becomes a director then should he shoot his film as DOP.
· I will prefer to shoot by someone else… It’s delicate to maintain the balance between a cinematographer’s mind and a director’s conception… both are high profile technicians. Sometimes a cinematographer mind overshadows and it may affect Director’s Vision.
# How sync sound affect cinematography of the film.
· Not much… But be careful… only those equipments will be preferred which produce no sound… trolley tracks, flag papers etc. … produce noise on the sets… we need special care to not have noise.
# What mistakes a cinematographer should not do?
· First… he should make mistakes. As, no mistake… no lesson learnt… also ….break the rules…u will learn new things … tricky things.
# Your favorite black and white film?
· Kaagaz Ke Phool…. would you like to have tea ?
# its ok sir !
Murti box bane nahin { murti …i guess is the assistant of binod sir }… do chai…
# How shooting ad films is different from shooting films?
· In an ad film, a shot is of 2-3 seconds , not more than that. However in case of films the duration of a shot is generally more than 3 seconds. Hence in case of ad film, story telling is more challenging and each shot is thoroughly planned. Film has its own advantage of having long duration shots.
# How mechanical knowledge of a machine can help you to understand any craft?
· It helps a lot. Knowing what are different parts of a camera or any other machine really makes you to understand the craft. Mechanical knowledge will not make you creative or a master but yes it helps to express whatever you want to achieve….whatever you want to show on the screen. Thus for a cinematographer “It takes a journey for cinematographer to master a very complex craft before they can express themselves as artists”.
# how we can achive sunlight in indoor studio ?
by using one large big source of light.. and then filled by small units of lights.
the talks continue for some time … he became more n more busy… after another hand shake when i come out from studio 9 … the feel of knowledge satisfaction was on my face. thanx Binod sir.
[oz note: bumped to Exclusive]
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Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
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Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
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Revathy
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Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
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wow .. thanks a lot param.
Binod is one of our senior and very talented cinematographers in india…
Dont end it so soon Param…mauka dekh ke chauka maarte raho…wish to hear more from you about Binod…thanx for this precious discussion!!
- thank you for this. Binod’s work has been a school of learning for many of us. Though I’ve missed seeing a few of his earlier works like Ghasiram Kotwal (adaptation of Tendulkar’s play), Aparoopa and Papori.
Though I had seen his “Dulhan Wohi Jo Piya Man Bhaye”… it wasn’t until Khamosh (by Vinod Chopra) that I first noticed him… and by the time “Parinda” came out… we were totally bowled… I still believe no one could make Manisha Koirala look like a beautiful angel as in 1942: A Love Story, or give such beautiful images in uninteresting movies like Kareeb or Dil Jo Bhi Kahey.
Though I’m not a big fan of Devdas, perhaps Bhansali needed a Binod Pradhan to make Devdas what it truly became… and he has been associated with cult classics which surprisingly not many are aware of. For example did you know that Binod was the camera man for “Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron”!!!
Over the years though, I’ve seen the energy in his camera draining out, though one could argue that he still has given us a “Rang De Basanti”… yet I miss the magic he created with Vidhu Vinod Chopra, once upon a time.
Oh by the way he was in front of the camera in the recent “Ta Ra Rum Pum”… where he plays one of the three old farts who dupe Saif for beer.
More! More! We need to get him to talk more about his films!
Param, thnx so much n good post ya. ye dil maange more. Devdas, didnt work for me at all excpt for Madhuri. god why there was so much overdose of everything!!!
Binod Pradhan was Xellent in RDB.
For Devdas, it was more of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s vision that he was enhancing.
Mission Kashmir, the action sequence in a house submerged in water was brilliantly photographed.
Ta Ra Rum Pum- No Comments (He had no choice, either work or not, bow down)
Parinda is Binod Pradhan’s best work by far. The use of shadows and sillhouettes within a sepia tone was just chilling. And who can forget the shots in the climax when Jackie burns Nana alive.
Munnabhai MBBS was shot by him and it was very nice!! One of the most entertaining films. And it was a well shot film by him.
good job! Param…but bhook khatm nahin hui…hope u do one more round with Binod…
ek aur guzaarish to u all…can sum1 plz interview another genius Mr. Ashok Mehta
If I am not mistaken, he also did Shiva and the colour composition to some of the shots were exquisite.
Also, I cannot forget the chase sequence low angle shots in the college fight in that movie..it was a masterclass!!
I know that many people think that Devdas is a crap movie, but the reason I fell in love with it was the cinematography. I watched it twice the night I first saw it because the cinematography is so amazingly beautiful and complex, and this is one movie I can never tire of looking at.
Thank you so much for this post, I learned a lot reading it!
Last movie: Last Days of Left Eye (documentary on Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes)
Listening to: Lysa Flores