Born April 30, 1966 (1966-04-30) (age 43) Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupation: Cinematographer, Film director
Title ISC
K.V Anand is a Tamil cinematographer and film director in Chennai, India. Anand proved to be a successful director with his critically acclaimed Tamil film, Kana Kandaen (2005), and recently released blockbuster hit movie, Ayan (2009). He has been a cinematographer for a number of major box office hits in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu. Anand won the National Film Award for Best Cinematography for his debut film as a cinematographer, Thenmavin Kombath, in 1995.
| Name | K.V. Anand |
| Date of Birth | 30 October 1966 |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Profession | Cinematographer, Director, Photo journalist |
| Mother Tongue | Tamil |
| Family | Father – Venkataraman Mother – Anusuya Venkataraman Wife - Sasikala Daughters - Sadhana and Sneha |
| Education | Loyola College, Chennai: *Bachelors degree in Physics *Masters in Visual Communications |
| Debut | Cameraman * Thenmavin Kombathu (Malayalam) * Kadal Desam (Tamil) * Josh (Hindi) Director, Writer : |
| Gurus | Photography - Ansal Adams, Cartier Bressons, Raghu Rai Cinematography - P.C. Sriram, Vilmose Zigmount, Allen Daveieu |
| Uniqueness | * Dynamic composition * Lighting techniques * Telling a story using visual images |
| Magazines | Worked as a freelance journalist in Kalki, India Today, Illustrated Weekly, Aside, Indian Express etc. |
| Favourites | Authors - Thi Janakiraman, Ra Su Nallaperumal, Ki Rajanarayanan, Sujatha, Shivashankari, Vasanthi and Suba
Films: Actors – MGR, Shivaji Directors– Manirathnam, Shankar Heroines - Seema biswas , Nandita Das, Aishwarya Inspirations: Priyadarshan, Shankar, Manssor Khan, Raj Kumar Santoshi, Vasanth, Kadir, Susi Ganesh, and Gandhi Krishna Restaurant: ‘Konar Dosa’ cafe in Madurai |
| Award | * National Film Award for Best Cinematography for Malayalam movie, Thenmavin Kombathu (1995) |
| Commercials | 50 commercials as cinematographer for various advertising agencies. |
| Facts | * Childhood days were spent in Pulicat. * 120 cover photographs and 2000 black and white photographs for Kalki magazine |
| Guru | * Anand was P.C. Sriram’s assistant for 3 years. * Jeeva was the first assistant when Anand joined as sixth assistant. * When Director Priyadarshan approached P.C.Sriram for his movie, he suggested K.V.Anand for that movie and thus he landed in Thenmavin Kombathu |
| Ramp shots | * The first one in the country to use ramp shots * For Shivaji he used super 35 with four K. |
| Difficult shot | ‘Sahana’ song in the movie Sivaji. The whole set was made of glass. And shooting round glass is tricky and difficult for any cinematographer. He covered himself with black bed sheets and took great care that his reflections didn’t fall on the glass. He was happy about the final result as it was worth of the effort taken by him. |
| His views | Rajinikanth : “I must say that it was because of my ignorance that perhaps I did not work in Baba and Chandramukhi. There are very many things in Rajni that have attracted me a lot. I have worked with many great artists, both in Kodambakkam and Bollywood, but I have never seen such a humble and simple person. If there is any fault on his part, he will immediately try to rectify it and he maintains his punctuality. I have never seen such a disciplined person in my career.” Director Shankar : Director Jeeva : P.C.Sriram : Shreya : Mansoor Khan and Rajkumar Santoshi : Director Manirathanam : |
| About him | P.C.Sriram : “I thought you would fumble somewhere and be branded a document-filmmaker, but you’ve packaged it so sensibly and attractively.” Shankar : Rajinikanth : Saravanan and Guhan (Producers) : |
| Advice to cinematographers | Read , watch , read , watch , read , watch |
Early life
K.V. Anand was born in Chennai, India graduated with Bachelors degree in Physics followed by Masters in Visual Communications from Loyola College, Chennai. Anand was an avid mountaineer during his college days and participated in annual trekking expeditions to Himalayas. His exploratory trips to various remote locations in India triggered his passion in photography. Anand participated in inter-collegiate, state and national level photography contests. His dynamic composition, lighting techniques and unique viewpoint of telling a story using visual images earned him numerous photography awards. This early success and recognition motivated him to pursue his career in photography.
Career as a Photo Journalist (1988-1994)
Anand worked as a freelance photo journalist for leading newspapers and magazines such as Kalki, India Today, Illustrated Weekly, Aside, Indian Express and other national publications. Within a short period of time, his photos were published in more than 200 magazine covers and had taken photos of 10 Chief Ministers in close quarters. Anand continued to freelance in industrial photography, advertisements and cover pages for fictional Tamil novels. . This varied experience gave him the freedom to experiment and practice various photographic techniques.
Anand applied for a full-time position as a photo journalist for ‘India Today’, a leading publication group in India. With his strong portfolio and experience, he failed to get the job offer at India Today. Anand was disappointed and left to Andaman Islands for a month to reflect on his career and life ahead. During this wilderness trip, Anand decided to transition from photo journalism to cinematography.
Cinematographer
Anand met ace cinematographer P. C. Sriram and expressed his interest to work for him as an assistant. Anand was delighted when P.C. Sriram agreed. Anand served as an apprentice for movies such as Gopura Vasalile, Amaran, Meera, Devar Magan, Thiruda Thiruda. Anand learned a lot about movie making while working with P.C. Sriram. Anand got his breakthrough when P.C. Sriram recommended him to Priyadarshan for ‘Thenmavin Kombathu’. Anand got the National Award for best cinematography for his excellent work in his debut movie. Anand’s first Tamil film was Kadal Desam followed by his first Hindi film, Josh. Another major landmark movie as cinematographer was Mudalvan which was later dubbed in Telugu and remade in Hindi.
Anand has wielded the camera for 14 films in languages including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi for notable directors such as Priyadarshan, S. Shankar, Mansoor Khan and Rajkumar Santoshi. He has worked as a cinematographer for more than 100 commercials with leading advertisement agencies in India.
Director
Directing a movie was the next logical step for Anand after working closely with some of the top notch directors in Indian cinema. Anand’s debut film, Kana Kandaen, penned by novelist duo Suba, starring Srikant-Gopika-Prithviraj received good reviews from the media and public. In 2009, Anand’s second directorial venture, Ayan, starring Surya Sivakumar, Prabhu Ganesan and Tamanna Bhatia, turned out to be a blockbuster hit with distributors across all centers realizing box office collections comparable to that of Sivaji and Dasavatharam. Ayan completed 100 days in totally 30 theatres across Tamil Nadu and 4 theatres in Chennai. It is estimated to have collected more than 75 Crores in worldwide box office revenues. As per the trade sources, Ayan has taken a share of Rs 7.9 Crores from Chennai, the third highest share for a Tamil film in the city. It has been the biggest hit in 2009, and in surya’s career.
Latest Word — Ko
Anand is currently working on his script for his third directorial venture. After the major blockbuster hit of Ayan, There was news release on directing Surya Sivakumar starting in late 2010. Anand has not denied or confirmed the news. The third movie with Jeeva has been titled Ko with Ajmal Ameer and Karthika Nair in the lead roles. Music will be composed by Harris Jayaraj and editing by Anthony.
Filmography
As cinematographer
* Sivaji: The Boss (Tamil, 2007)
* Khakee (Hindi, 2004)
* Chellamae (Tamil, 2004)
* The Legend of Bhagat Singh (Hindi, 2002)
* Virumbugiren (Tamil, 2002)
* Nayak: The Real Hero (Hindi, 2001)
* Josh (Hindi, 2000)
* Mudhalvan (Tamil, 1999)
* Doli Saja Ke Rakhna (Hindi, 1998)
* Nerukku Ner (Tamil, 1997)
* Kadhal Desam (Tamil, 1996)
* Punya Bhoomi Naa Desam (Telugu, 1995)
* Minnaram (Malayalam, 1994)
* Thenmavin Kombath (Malayalam, 1994)
As director
Year Film Language Notes
2005 Kana Kandaen Tamil Hit
2009 Ayan Tamil Blockbuster
2010 Ko Tamil Filming
Awards
* 2008: Filmfare Award for Cinematography (Tamil) – (Sivaji)
* 2002: SICA Awards for Best cinematography – Legend of Bhagat Singh (Hindi)
* 2001: Screen Awards nominated Best cinematography – JOSH (Hindi)
* 1997: Screen Awards South for Best Cinematography – Kadhal desam (Tamil)
* 1995: National Film Award for Best Cinematography – Thenmavin Kombath
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