Notable cinematographers on their films

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Rajiv Menon on Bombay

Mani Ratnam’s Tamil film Bombay, which was released along with a dubbed Hindi version in 1993, is a film with two distinct sections. The first is a rapturous romance between a Brahmin man and a Muslim woman. The second follows the couple as they move to Mumbai, raise a family and get trapped in the 1992-’93 communal riots. Bombay was shot by advertising filmmaker and cinematographer Rajiv Menon, who also worked on Ratnam’s Guru in 2007, in addition to directing two of his own films (Minsaru Kanavu and Kandukondain Kandukondain).

What discussions did you have with Mani Ratnam before shooting Bombay?
Mani Ratnam told me that Bombay was going to be about the riots and that we would see a lot of the riots. So we needed to make what came before the riots as beautiful as possible. I suggested that we shoot in the rains and he said, okay.

We shot in different places and put them all together. The interiors of the homes were in Pollachi in Tamil Nadu. The exteriors were in Kasargod in Kerala. The first half has a lot of blues. I remember watching British films shot in winter that would set navy blue against green.

How did you visually recreate Mumbai and the riots?
We had to create the city of Bombay on two streets! We got away with some scenes set at night. That’s why I had so many burning tyres. I based the Bombay bits on my own experiences in the city. We used the city’s landmarks such as the Gateway of India and Marina Drive. You have to put flags down for audiences to identify the city.

All we had [to recreate the riots] were several photographs. I kept a book of these photographs – this was before television. After all, cinematic visuals stem not just from other cinematic visuals but from books, paintings and photographs. One of the visuals I remember was of a Muslim victim lying with his head smashed on a floor, surrounded by slippers.

There are some deeply sensuous camera movements in both the romance as well as the songs.
The camera moves a lot – there would be long takes followed by three-four small cuts. It made lighting continuity easier for me and I was able to move fluidly. The exposure became dynamic and formed a pattern – you moved from light to patches of darkness again to light.

You can condense a lot of emotions in a song. Songs have a narrative aspect in Indian cinema, something that has been forgotten. A song has been reduced to a celebration. However, some songs can capture a sense of exhilaration in other ways – look at “Aaj Phir Jeene Ki Tamanna Hai” from Guide or “Chhaiyya Chhaiyya” from Dil Se.

Mani and I share a fascination for the way Guru Dutt shot his songs. Satyajit Ray too had an understanding of the sensuous quality of Indian music. “Kannalane” [“Kehna Hi Kya” in Hindi] is full of incongruities. It is set in what looks like a mosque. Or “Uyire” [“Tu Hi Re”]. The emotion of love being communicated is so strong that you believe that the hero is willing to die for the heroine.

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