Karimanal Venkatesan Anand (30 October 1966 30 April 2021) was an Indian

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

, worked mainly in the

Tamil film industry Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywood ...

. After a short period as a journalist, he became a cinematographer in the early 1990s, working on about fifteen films in the Southern and

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

industries. Anand won the National Film Award for Best Cinematography for his debut film as a cinematographer, ''

Thenmavin Kombath ''Thenmavin Kompath'' () is a 1994 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Priyadarshan. It was produced and edited by N. Gopalakrishnan. The film stars Mohanlal, Shobana, and Nedumudi Venu, with Kaviyoor Po ...

''. In 2005, Anand turned film director with the critically acclaimed '' Kana Kandaen''. He was a founding member of the Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC).

Early life

Anand was born in Chennai, in the state of Tamil Nadu in India on 30 October 1966 to Karimanal Munuswamy Venkatesan and Anusuya Venkatesan. His childhood days were spent in Pulicat. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Physics from

DG Vaishnav College DG Vaishnav College (Dwaraka Doss Goverdhan Doss Vaishnav College), commonly known as DDGDVC, is a Liberal arts, commerce and science college in Chennai, India. It is an autonomous institution affiliated with the University of Madras. It is loc ...

in June 1986, followed by a master's degree in Visual Communications from Loyola College, Chennai. During his college days Anand participated in annual trekking expeditions in the Himalayas. His exploratory trips to various remote locations in India triggered his passion for photography. Anand participated in inter-collegiate, state and national level photography contests. His visual images earned him numerous photography awards.

Career

Photo journalist (1988–1992)

Anand worked as a

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

photo journalist for leading newspapers and magazines such as '' Kalki'', '' India Today'', ''Illustrated Weekly'', Aside and other national publications. Within a short period of time, his photos were published in more than 200 magazine covers and had taken photos of 10 Chief Ministers in close quarters. Anand continued to freelance in industrial photography, advertisements and cover pages for fictional Tamil novels.

Cinematographer

Anand met cinematographer P. C. Sreeram and expressed his interest to work for him as an assistant. He joined him, serving as an apprentice for Sreeram's film such as '' Gopura Vasalile'', '' Amaran'', '' Meera'', ''

Devar Magan ''Thevar Magan'' () is a 1992 Indian, Tamil-language drama film written by Kamal Haasan, who also produced the film, and directed by Bharathan. It stars Haasan, Sivaji Ganesan, Revathi, Gautami and Nassar; with Kallapart Natarajan, Kaka Radh ...

'' and '' Thiruda Thiruda''. Actually, he joined as the sixth assistant to Sreeram when Jeeva, another prominent figure in cinematography was the first assistant to Sreeram. When director Priyadarshan had approached P. C. Sreeram to work on his Malayalam film, ''

'' (1994), he was unavailable and thus recommended Anand to be given the opportunity. The film received positive reviews and Anand won the National Film Award for Best Cinematography for his debut venture, with the award committee noting he showed "outstanding cinematography executed with sincerity, imagination and flexibility". Anand's first Tamil film was the romantic drama ''

Kadhal Desam ''Kadhal Desam'' () is a 1996 Indian Tamil-language action romance film written and directed by Kathir and produced by K. T. Kunjumon. The film starred Vineeth and debutant Abbas in the main leads, along with actress Tabu (in her Tamil debut ...

'' (1996), which also won critical acclaim for showcasing Chennai in a futuristic mould. He also then teamed up with director Shankar for the production of the political thriller '' Mudhalvan'' (2000), winning appreciation for his experimental camera ramping and the general grandeur. Anand has wielded the camera for 14 films in languages including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi. His final work as a cinematographer came with '' Sivaji'' (2007), the

Rajinikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 160 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannad ...

-starrer directed by Shankar, the most expensive Tamil film ever made at the time of release.

Film director

Anand turned a film director with '' Kana Kandaen'' (2005), a thriller film starring

Srikanth Srikanth or Sreekanth is a common Indian first name. * Srikanth (Tamil actor, born 1940), Tamil film actor active in films from 1965 * Srikanth (Tamil actor, born 1980), Tamil actor active in films after 2002 * Srikanth (Telugu actor), Telugu acto ...

Prithviraj Prithviraj or Pruthviraj may refer to: Art and entertainment * ''Samrat Prithviraj'', a 2022 Indian Hindi film Mononym * Prithviraja I (r. c. 1090-1110), Indian king from the Shakambhari Chahamana dynasty * Prithviraja II (r. c. 1165-1169), Indi ...

and Gopika. The film opened to favourable reviews from critics, with a reviewer from Rediff.com noting "Anand has succeeded in making an extremely watchable, highly thrilling film with a 'different' story". Despite the success of the film, Anand opted to return to cinematography to fulfil commitments for

's '' Sivaji'' (2007) directed by Shankar, which became the most expensive Tamil film ever made at the time. Anand then collaborated with AVM Productions and

Suriya Saravanan Sivakumar (born 23 July 1975), known by his stage name Suriya, is an Indian actor, producer, television presenter and a philanthropist. He primarily works in Tamil cinema where he is one of the highest paid actors. He received numerou ...

in ''

Ayan Ayan may refer to: Places *Ayan, Iran, a village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran *Ayan, Russia, a rural locality (a ''selo'') and a port in Khabarovsk Krai on the Sea of Okhotsk, Russia *Ayan, Çankırı, a village in Turkey *Ayan Virusampatti, ...

'' (2009), an action entertainer set on the backdrop of the Indo-African drug smuggling trade. In order to prepare the script, Anand did a lot of research and is said to have spoken to a lot of custom officers to understand the modus operandi of smuggling. The film opened in April 2009 to positive reviews, and became one of the year's highest-grossing Tamil language films. A critic from Rediff.com called the film a "must-watch" adding "what gets you by surprise is the thread of logic that laces practically every encounter, and the way Anand's screenplay covers all the angles". A reviewer from Sify.com stated "Anand pushes the commercial cinematic envelope and brings a savvy freshness in treatment and packaging hitherto unexplored in ''Ayan''". His third directorial venture, '' Ko'' (2011), narrated the tale of photojournalists caught up in a political corruption scandal. Starring

Jiiva Amar Choudary (born 4 January 1984), known professionally as Jiiva, is an Indian actor and film producer who works mainly in Tamil cinema and a few Hindi films. He is the youngest son of film producer R. B. Choudary. He began his career as a ch ...

, Ajmal Ameer, Karthika Nair and

Piaa Bajpai Pia Bajpiee is an Indian actress and model who appears primarily in Bollywood and Kollywood films. She is best known for her performances as Roshini in Venkat Prabhu's comedy ''Goa'' and Saro in K. V. Anand's political thriller '' Ko''. Early li ...

, the film also received a positive from film critics and the box office. A reviewer from

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

described the film as a "tale with a realistic twist" and mentioned that Anand "strikes gold with ''Ko''". The critic added "blending the commercial with the realistic is a challenge, but Anand proves adept at it." Likewise, The Times of India noted "With ''Ko'', director Anand gives notice of his immense talent once again, making a movie that is all set to lord over the box office this summer". Anand worked with Suriya again in ''

Maattrraan ''Maattrraan'' () is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film co-written and directed by K. V. Anand and produced by Kalpathi S. Aghoram, S. Ganesh and S. Suresh under the banner AGS Entertainment. It stars Suriya in dual roles, along ...

'' (2012), and was inspired to make the film after watching a documentary about the conjoined twins Chang and Eng Bunker. While preparing the script, he worked closely with a team of doctors to ensure the medical condition of open-heart transplant, as shown in the film, could be showcased as realistically as possible. He later made a mythical thriller film, '' Anegan'' (2015) starring

Dhanush Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja (born 28 July 1983), known professionally as Dhanush, is an Indian actor, producer, director, lyricist and playback singer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Starring in 46 films over his career, among hi ...

, and another political thriller film, '' Kavan'' (2017), with Vijay Sethupathi. His final film '' Kaappaan'' (2019), starring Suriya and Mohanlal, told the tale of a Special Protection Group (SPG) officer who protects the Prime Minister.

Style of working

Anand has collaborated with composer Harris Jayaraj, editor Anthony and script writers Subha for several of his ventures, describing them as "constant fixtures". While noting he shared a good rapport with Jayaraj, he has stated that Anthony is like his "alter ego" and "his biggest critic", with the pair often working closely during the post-production stages of films. He met the writer duo Suresh and Bala of Subha, during his stint as a photo journalist with the magazine, India Today. Jagan has a part in most of his films. Despite being a cinematographer himself, Anand opted not to wield the camera for his own ventures and has actively tried to select different cinematographers for each of his projects, like Soundararajan. S,

M. S. Prabhu M. S. Prabhu is an Indian cinematographer who works mainly in the Tamil film industry. He started his career as an assistant to P. C. Sreeram P. C. Sreeram ISC (born 26 January 1956) is an Indian cinematographer and film director who works ...

Richard M. Nathan Richard M. Nathan is an Indian cinematographer, who works in the Tamil film industry. Career After graduating from Don Bosco Secondary School, Richard studied Visual Communications at Loyola College, Chennai in 1997. He then subsequently beg ...

, Om Prakash and Abhinandan Ramanujam. During the script-writing process, Anand often finished up to six drafts, though mentioned he rarely "locks his script", suggesting it is always open to changes for improvisations on the shooting spot. He often rephrased dialogues; and sometimes has invented titles during the drafting process, being constantly on the lookout for short and crisp titles. His titles are usually in Chaste Tamil, such as

, Ko, Anegan and Kavan.

Death

Anand died in Chennai in the early hours of 30 April 2021 following a cardiac arrest. At the time, he was tested positive for COVID-19.

Filmography

As cinematographer

_Source(s):

As director

_Source(s):

As actor

_Source(s): * '' Meera'' (1992) as Vikram's friend (uncredited) * '' Sivaji: The Boss'' (2007) guest appearance in song "Ballelakka" * ''

'' (2012) guest appearance as a protester in the song "Yaaro Yaaro" * '' Kavan'' (2017) as tea seller (cameo)

Awards

! , - !scope="row", 1994 , ''

'' , National Film Award for Best Cinematography , , style="text-align:center;", , - !scope="row", 1996 , ''

'' , Screen Award for Best Cinematography , , style="text-align:center;", , - !scope="row", 2000 , '' Josh'' , Screen Award for Best Cinematography , , style="text-align:center;", , - !scope="row", 2002 , '' The Legend of Bhagat Singh'' , SICA Award for Best Cinematography , , style="text-align:center;", , - !scope="row", 2007 , '' Sivaji'' , Filmfare Award for Best Cinematographer – South , , style="text-align:center;", , - !scope="row", 2009 , ''

'' , Filmfare Award for Best Director – Tamil , , style="text-align:center;", , - !scope="row", 2011 , '' Ko'' , Filmfare Award for Best Director – Tamil , , style="text-align:center;", , - !scope="row", 2012 , ''

'' , SIIMA Award for Best Director , , style="text-align:center;",

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anand, K. V. 1966 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Indian photographers 21st-century Indian film directors 21st-century Indian photographers Best Cinematography National Film Award winners Cinematographers from Tamil Nadu Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in India Film directors from Chennai Filmfare Awards South winners Indian Tamil people Loyola College, Chennai alumni Malayalam film cinematographers Tamil film cinematographers