Vidya Balan in No One Killed Jessica

At 33, you are really young as far as Bollywood cinematographers go...

I passed out of FTII (Film and Television Institute of India) in 2005-2006 and got The Japanese Wife straightaway.

How did the connection with Aparna Sen happen?

Actually at that time they were looking for a young cinematographer. My student film Chabiwali Pocket Watch did the rounds of many festivals and also won the Best Cinematography award in the Emerging Filmmakers section at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007. That film somehow reached her and that’s how we connected.

How challenging was The Japanese Wife as your first feature film?

It was quite challenging because she was a very big name. It was daunting to be working with someone like Aparna Sen. The expectations were high, both from her end and from my own self. It was my first feature and there was no question of not delivering what was wanted of me.

Was it logistically difficult too, given that it was shot in the Sunderbans and had this elaborate flood scene?

I think physically it was a tough film to shoot because in the Sunderbans we were shooting at 99 per cent humidity and at 44 degrees Celsius. Even the locals don’t come out in the afternoon in such weather. Apart from that the kite-flying competition was a tough one to shoot. Even the monsoon was not easy in the Sunderbans. And when we were shooting on boats, it would take a really, really long time to co-ordinate and get the right shots. There used to be an equipment boat and an action boat and they wouldn’t move in sync as we would. So it wasn’t easy at all.

Did Raj Kumar Gupta sign you for No One Killed Jessica after he saw The Japanese Wife?

Actually I did another film in between called Dil Kabaddi with Irrfan, Rahul Bose and Konkona and there were two other films which I started but could not complete. The production designer on one of those films which I couldn’t complete was also the production designer on No One Killed Jessica. Raj Kumar Gupta was looking for a cinematographer at that time, one-and-a-half years back. The production designer recommended me to Raj and we met and he asked me a couple of questions and we decided to go ahead.

Anay Goswamy with Raj Kumar Gupta: No One Killed Jessica was shot at 152 locations

From a Bengali film production with a limited budget to a Bollywood movie by UTV, what was the jump like?

One major difference was obviously the budget. But still Jessica has a modest budget, the production budget isn’t more than Rs 9 crore. The Japanese Wife was about Rs 4 crore. But the challenge with Jessica was that there were so many locations. The location count for the film was 152! Even though I had access to more equipment and all, it was tough to constantly be on the move. A lot of those locations were interiors and so you had to light each one up and that would take time. So this one brought with it a different challenge.

The two directors are as different as they get — a veteran lady from Calcutta and a young man from Mumbai. What was your experience like?

One thing common to both Aparna Sen and Raj Kumar Gupta is that both are very demanding directors. They are both very passionate about what they are making and since the scripts have also been written by them, the passion is that much more. Also, if anybody thinks that Aparna Sen is old school, that’s not right. I think she is very much with the times; just that The Japanese Wife demanded a certain kind of filmmaking.

And how was it dealing with stars like Rani Mukerji and Vidya Balan in Jessica?

I had a wonderful time with both of them. Both of them are very different in their approach. Also the subject of the film being inspired from true events and the film being designed as a thriller did have an effect. Of course it was also a mainstream movie and I think that was the challenge... to constantly keep the balance right. And I think Rani and Vidya wanted to be true to their characters and yet not compromise too much on the way they look.

Anay’s Fave shot films

Days of Heaven (1978)

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In the Mood for Love (2000)

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Rahul Bose and Raima Sen in The Japanese Wife: “Physically a tough film to shoot”

2046 (2004)

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Biutiful (2010)

Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, director Alejandro Inarritu’s constant collaborator, shot the Spanish film with elan.