Ramachandra Babu

Kunjan 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 one of the founding members 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 made his feature film debut in 1971 as a cinematographer even before completing his FTII course, for Vidyarthikale Ithile Ithile.

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 Professor Dingan (director) - Died during the production

Other works His memoir is entitled Celluloid Swapnadakan (translation: Celluloid Dreamer).

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