The Mastery in Visuals: Santhosh Sivan and Malayalam film

Cinematographer Santhosh Sivan is possibly the greatest filmmaking talent of our age. One of the prominent creative people, India has ever had. Be it's his cinematography or the way of directing movies, Santhosh Sivan has always outstood from the numerous cinematographers in the country. He even went on becoming the first person to get a membership in the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC). The legend that he holds is a result of the images he painted with light and shades. Being an artist and an excellent painter, Santhosh Sivan even recreated some iconic pieces of art on moving pictures. From shaping the picture-perfect images to unveiling the mystery behind each character, Santhosh Sivan can be undoubtfully referred to as the 'God of Visuals.' As the Master of Visuals has completed three decades in portraying magic on screen and stepping to his another year of his life and birthday, let's take a look into his prowess of film-making.

Santhosh Sivan is a huge admirer of painting as he has his roots there. The cinematographer got his base in painting from his grandmother. She was the first person to introduce a visual language to him. He was an admirer of Raja Ravi Varma and was highly influenced by his paintings. Initially, he began painting magic on a canvas using colors and shades, but later it turned into drawing with lights and shadows.

The influence of painting has given him the exact idea of how to light for a particular shot. The inspiration from Ravi Varma paintings made him recreate it in his Malayalam directorial 'Anandabhadram.' The famous 'Hamsa damayanthi,' 'Nair Woman,' 'Milkmaid' etc moved in front of the audience in a spectacular way that they even felt blinking as a curse. The images deeply penetrated into the soul of the viewers. It is absolutely impossible for any other artist to courageously recreate a piece of art, without committing any flaws.

The expertise he had in matching the minute details of the painting and drawing lights into it in the accurate amount can't be left unpraised. Every nanosecond of his frames had the picture-perfect details. In order to achieve the same result, Santhosh Sivan has employed his own techniques, like opting for golden hours, managing to use natural light as much as possible and also taming light for a purpose. The pictures that he drew with lights and shadows hold a uniqueness, which makes him one of the most celebrated cinematographers of the country.

Santhosh Sivan's frames are always closely attached to nature. The cinematographer always made nature talk things and become a vital part of the film. In his Malayalam film, 'Anandabhadram', and 'Urumi', the whole plot was linked to nature. He is also a great admirer of landscapes, waterfalls, dragonflies and the whole nature. His always incorporated his frames with these factors. When the audience found the beauty of Shobana in the undisturbed pond, in 'Pavithram,' they could not stop but fall for it. Santhosh Sivan was very talented in bringing nature to live into the shots and saying a new aspect, creating a whole new universe within the existing nature. When he came to visualizing movies, he brought landscapes as vital characters of the movie.

What many Cinematographers lack and fail at is what Santhosh Sivan achieved. The cinematographer is in a constant seek for knowledge. The cinematographer is really updated with the transformation in technology and is highly skilled in technicalities. The craft we saw in film changed into digital, but the art he gives is still the same. In the beginning, the cinematographer used backlights to boost up the actors, which enabled him to separate them from the whole background and showcase ornamentally. Later with time, the trend slightly changed to giving them side lights which could turn into rim as the character moves.

Also, Santhosh Sivan is an expert when it comes to using hard and soft lights. But as the technicalities enhanced the cinematographer began giving colour separations, to catch the attention to the subject. He was and still is so good in portraying the characters in closeup at its best. He has the mastery in close-ups which gives the perfect composition at every second of the movement. With close-ups, he is able to portray the character's emotions and expressions at its best. When techniques and gadgets changed he adapted into the new ones, but the art still remains in the place.