Saif Ali Khan and Preity Zinta in Salaam Namaste, shot by Sunil Patel

When the bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchens of the advertising world burnt him out, Sunil Patel plunged into the larger-than-life world of films. That was some seven summers ago. Now, slick-and-sugary Bollywood seems to be getting on his nerves. To shrug off the boredom and mix things up, he has squeezed in a Bengali film.

The cinematographer of Hum Tum and Salaam Namaste wrapped up the shoot for Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury?s Anuranon, starring Rahul Bose, Rituparna Sengupta, Raima Sen and Rajat Kapoor, a week ago. ?Tony (Aniruddha) is an old friend; we have done several commercials together. After Salaam Namaste, I had the time and the story sounded good and so I decided to take it up,? says Patel, for whom the Bengali film has come as a welcome breather. A switch of sensibilities, so to say, from the fast-paced mish mash of Bollywood for man responsible for the look of Piyush Jha?s Chalo America, Sarfarosh and Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai.

?Anuranon is very different from mainstream Hindi films. Most of the time we are trying to adjust many variables and find ourselves solving problems rather than doing cinematography. Say, for instance, actors don?t turn up on time and you have to finish a scene within a fixed period. In case of Anuranon, everything was planned very well. And I was free to be creative,? elaborates Patel.

One of things about mainstream Hindi films that?s beginning to bug him is the use of hi-tech gimmicks to gloss over the message. ?The use of steadycam or candid camera and things like that are not always appropriate. In Anuranon, we didn?t have to resort to that primarily because of a budget constraints, but that was a blessing in disguise.?

But Tollywood poses a problem at the other end of the prism. ?In Bengal, the equipment and technical set-up are of the lowest quality? but the enthusiasm of film-makers makes up for it,? observes Patel.

While choosing projects, Patel?s priorities are the story and the director, rather than the banner. ?I feel attracted to a story if it is told in a lyrical manner so that I can imagine images when I am listening to it. I take up the film if the director is passionate about it. And budget constraint is something a cinematographer can never do away with.?

Patel is presently awaiting the release of Pyaare Mohan, starring Viveik Oberoi and Fardeen Khan. But that?s it. No more feature films for the time being. ?I am going to take a year off and go back to advertising. I was tired of bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchens after a point because that?s what we deal with most of the time in commercials, and so had switched to films. After all, how different could you show a kitchen every time?? he laughs. ?You get a sense of burning out, which I have this time too and so I need a change??