A Quote by Rajiv Menon
Ashok Mehta was the man who brought contrast and lighting back to mainstream Hindi film cinematography.
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Ashok Mehta did not go to any institute. He did not carry the baggage of formal education.
As an actor, I am only excited about doing good work - be it in mainstream Hindi cinema, Hollywood, a French film, or a Marathi movie.
Very rarely does a mainstream film push the envelope. A film that's so-called mainstream and questions certain norms, certain notions of morality, and gets away with it opens doors. It means the common man, the majority of the people, have accepted it.
My lighting tends to use contrast as a reflection of the stakes in the scene. The higher the stakes, the more I feel I can get away with an exaggerated contrast.
When I was studying photography, I became interested in conflict photojournalism, and that got me interested in lighting. Then I realized there was this amazing thing called cinematography where you could kind of tell more complete stories photographing for film. So I ended up going to AFI grad school for that.
Life is unpredictable, and I feel, to some extent, lighting and cinematography should be a reflection of that.
I was born and brought up in London, so I couldn't speak Hindi properly. But as I am socialising more with my Hindi speaking friends, I'm getting better at the language.
Hindi film heroes never age but Hindi film heroines age fast.
I would love to do better in mainstream Hindi films, but one thing I must say is that my best experience so far has been in the Punjabi film industry, where I've been around for more than 11 years.
I remember breaking the news to both my parents that I wanted to be a director, and they both looked very doubtful. They didn't know what a closet Hindi film buff I was. I used to dance to old Hindi films songs on the sly, so my decision to be a part of Hindi cinema was shocking even for my parents.
'Aiyyaa' was not the first film that I was offered in Hindi... it was the first film that I wanted to do in Hindi.
Among the various vernaculars that are spoken in different parts of India, there is one that stands out strongly from the rest, as that which is most widely known. It is Hindi. A man who knows Hindi can travel over India and find everywhere Hindi-speaking people.
Cinematography was incredibly foreign to me, so I read as much as I could about it. Once I figured out that it was just photography with a set shutter speed, I got some slide film and I just went about storyboarding the script and taking snapshots. I took a ton of time doing it just to make sure I knew exactly what I was doing. By the end of it I knew what the film was going to look like - my exposure and the composition and everything. I wasn't scared of cinematography anymore.
If it's a Hindi film, it has to have a Hindi title.
Hindi films are not made for critics, it is made for worldwide Hindi film watching audience.
Usually, if you notice good cinematography, then the cinematographer's failing. I try to make light feel like it's always motivated and natural in some way and hope that the lighting goes unnoticed.
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