P. C. Sreeram ISC (born 26 January 1956) is an Indian cinematographer and film director who works in

Indian films The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Ko ...

. He is also the president of Qube Cinemas, a digital cinema technology company. He is an alumnus of the

Madras Film Institute The M.G.R. Government Film and Television Training Institute, formerly known as the Adyar Film Institute, is Asia's first-ever film and television training institute. Established in 1945 as Adyar Film Institute, it is one of the pioneer film in ...

. Apart from his work as a cinematographer, Sreeram was much appreciated for his directorial venture '' Kuruthipunal.'' The film was internationally acclaimed and was submitted by India as its official entry to the Oscars in 1996. Sreeram is known for his association with

Bharathan Bharathan (14 November 1946 – 30 July 1998) was an Indian film maker, artist, and art director. Bharathan is noted for being the founder of a new school of film making in Malayalam cinema, along with Padmarajan and K. G. George, in th ...

Mani Ratnam Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and few Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films. Ratnam has won six Nat ...

R Balki R. Balakrishnan, popularly known as R. Balki, (born 16 April 1964) is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and former Group Chairman of the advertising agency Lowe Lintas (India). He is best known for directing ''Cheeni Kum'' (2007), ''Paa (film), ...

Vikram Kumar Vikram K. Kumar is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Telugu and Tamil cinema. In 1998, he directed his breakthrough non-feature film, ''Silent Scream'', for which he won the National Film Award For Best Instructional Film. ...

, and received critical acclaim for his work in films such as

Thevar 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 Rad ...

, ''

Mouna Ragam ''Mouna Ragam'' (; ) is a 1986 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Mani Ratnam, and produced by G. Venkateswaran. The film stars Mohan and Revathi, with Karthik (guest appearance), V. K. Ramasamy, Ra. Sankaran ...

'', ''

Nayakan ''Nayakan'' (; ) is a 1987 Indian Tamil-language gangster film written and directed by Mani Ratnam. Produced by Muktha Srinivasan, the film stars Kamal Haasan, Saranya (in her feature debut) and Karthika, with Janagaraj, Vijayan, M. V. Vasu ...

'', ''

Cheeni Kum ''Cheeni Kum'' (Hindi for ''Less Sugar'') is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by R. Balki and starring Amitabh Bachchan, Tabu, Paresh Rawal, Zohra Sehgal and Swini Khara. ''Cheeni Kum'' premiered at the 2007 Cannes F ...

'', ''

Agni Natchathiram ''Agni Natchathiram'' () is a 1988 Indian Tamil-language masala film that was written and directed by Mani Ratnam. The film stars Prabhu, Karthik, Amala and newcomer Nirosha, with Vijayakumar, Jayachitra, Sumithra, Tara, S. N. Lakshmi an ...

'', Paa, '' Geethanjali'', ''

Alaipayuthey ''Alai Payuthey'' ( ) is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written, co-produced and directed by Mani Ratnam, starring Madhavan (in his Tamil debut) and Shalini. The film explores the tensions of married life between two young pe ...

'', I, Padman, '' O Kadhal Kanmani, Thiruda thiruda,

Ishq Ishq ( ar, عشق, ''‘išq'') is an Arabic word meaning "love" or "passion", also widely used in other languages of the Muslim world and the Indian subcontinent. The word ''ishq'' does not appear in the Quran, which instead uses derivatives o ...

,'' and ''

Remo Remo Inc. is an American musical instruments manufacturing company based in Valencia, California, and founded by Remo Belli in 1957. Products manufactured include drum kits, drumheads, drums, and hardware. History Drummer and founder Re ...

.'' He has worked as a cinematographer in over 30 films spanning across

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

and

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

language, besides directing three films and a few

TV commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

in Chennai and Mumbai. He is also one of the founding members of Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC).

Early life and family

Sreeram was born on 26 January 1956 in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

(now Chennai). Sreeram's aspiration towards films grew much during his childhood days. He was educated at the

Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School is a school in India, in the southern city of Chennai. Founded in 1956 by M. Subbaraya Aiyar, R. S. Subbalakshmi and Padmini Chari, the school recently celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2016. It follows the ...

Mylapore Mylapore, also spelt Mayilapur, is a neighbourhood in the central part of the city of Chennai, India. It is one of the oldest residential parts of the city. It is also called Tirumayilai. The locality is claimed to be the birthplace of the cel ...

, Chennai. As a student he was not interested in studies. He had a passion for photography and after many years of struggle he joined the

to pursue a course in cinematography. The "Samco" group, which included

Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali l ...

, C. Rudhraiya,

Santhana Bharathi Santhana Bharathi is an Indian film director and actor who has primarily worked in Tamil cinema. Career Santhana Bharathi originally wanted to be a director but didn't get the right opportunity, even after working for a well known director ...

Radharavi Madras Rajagopalan Radhakrishnan Ravi (born 29 July 1952) is an Indian actor and politician who played supporting roles throughout his career. He is the son of actor M. R. Radha and the uncle of Vasu Vikram and half-brother of Raadhika. He is a ...

, R. C. Sakthi,

, and a few others, used to meet at a hotel in Chennai and share their knowledge of cinema and future ambitions of making a perfect film. His niece Preetha Jayaraman, a cinematographer in the Tamil Film industry, was inspired to her calling largely by her uncle's work in the field.

Career

Sreeram received his diploma in motion picture photography from the

in 1979, and made his cinematic debut in the early 1980s. One of his earlier works, ''Meendum Oru Kaathal Kathai'' (1985), won the

Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director The Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organization set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of sev ...

in 1984. Following a few commercially unsuccessful releases, he worked with

for the first time in ''

'' (1986). The film gave a much-needed breakthrough for both of them. Following the film's success, the pair went on to work in ''Nayagan'' (1987). The film went on to win three

National Film Awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...

at the

35th National Film Awards The 35th National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1987. Ceremony took place in Apr ...

; Sreeram was awarded that year's

National Film Award The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directora ...

. He used new techniques in the camera for their next film ''

'' and was praised very much for his work. Sreeram shot all of Ratnam's films until Geethanjali (1989). The film was both critically acclaimed and commercially successful besides winning the

National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment The National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, India, and was constituted in the year 1975. This is one of the ''Golden ...

and seven

Nandi Awards The Nandi Awards are the awards that recognise the excellence in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre and Telugu television, and Lifetime achievements in Indian cinema. Presented annually by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, the award is named after ...

including the Best Story and Best Cinematography awards for Ratnam and Sreeram, respectively. During the early 1990s, Sreeram worked in ''

Gopura Vasalile ''Gopura Vasalile'' () is a 1991 Indian Tamil-language black comedy film directed by Priyadarshan, starring Karthik and Bhanupriya. It relies on various subplots from the Malayalam film '' Pavam Pavam Rajakumaran'' (1990) and the Hindi film '' ...

'' (1991) and ''

Thevar 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 Rad ...

'' (1992). He made his directorial debut in 1992 with ''

Meera Meera, better known as Mirabai and venerated as Sant Meerabai, was a 16th-century Hindu mystic poet and devotee of Krishna. She is a celebrated Bhakti saint, particularly in the North Indian Hindu tradition. Mirabai was born into a Rathore ...

'', starring Vikram and

Aishwarya Aishwarya (Devanagari : ''ऐश्वर्य'') is a Hindu Indian or Nepalese male or feminine given name, which means "prosperity" and "wealth". Notable people named Aishwarya * Aishwariyaa Bhaskaran (born 1971), Indian actress * Aishwar ...

. The film had a delayed release and was a poor grosser at the box-office. The following year, he renewed his association with Ratnam in the latter's ''

Thiruda Thiruda ''Thiruda Thiruda'' () is a 1993 Indian Tamil-language black comedy caper film directed by Mani Ratnam written along with Ram Gopal Varma. The film stars Prashanth, Anand, Anu Aggarwal and Heera Rajagopal while S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and Salim ...

''. Sreeram directed his second film '' Kuruthipunal'' (1995), a police story based on the

film ''

Drohkaal ''Drohkaal'' () is a 1994 Indian Hindi-language crime drama film directed and produced by Govind Nihalani, which deals with India's fight against terrorism. The film examines the mental and psychological trauma that honest police officers go th ...

'' (1994). The film was India's official entry to the Oscars in 1996. It was showcased at the

Rotterdam International Film Festival The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Since its foundation in 1972, it has maintained a focus on independent and experimental fi ...

under the category "Director in Focus" eight years after its release. In 2004, he directed ''

Vaanam Vasappadum ''Vaanam Vasappadum'' () is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language film directed by P. C. Sreeram. The film stars newcomers Karthik Kumar and Poongkothai Chandrahasan, with Revathi, Nassar, Vijayakumar, and Thalaivasal Vijay in supporting roles. The mu ...

'', the first Indian film to make use of high-definition digital technology. The film was screened at the

Mumbai International Film Festival The Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films (MIFF) is a festival organized in the city of Mumbai (formerly Bombay) by the Films Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. It ...

and the ninth

International Film Festival of Kerala The International Film Festival of Kerala (abbreviated as IFFK) is a film festival held annually in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. This film festival started in 1996 and is hosted by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy ...

. In 2007, Sreeram made his Bollywood debut with

R. Balki R. Balakrishnan, popularly known as R. Balki, (born 16 April 1964) is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and former Group Chairman of the advertising agency Lowe Lintas (India). He is best known for directing ''Cheeni Kum'' (2007), '' Paa'' (200 ...

's ''

''. Since then, Sreeram has shot all of Balki's films'' Paa'' (2009), ''

Shamitabh ''Shamitabh'' is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language satirical drama film written and directed by R. Balki. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Dhanush and debutante Akshara Haasan. The film is jointly produced by Sunil Lulla, Balki, Rakesh Jhunjhunwal ...

'' (2015), ''

Ki & Ka ''Ki & Ka'' () is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film written, directed and produced by R. Balki. The film stars Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor. It was released theatrically on 1 April 2016 to mixed reviews and became a commercia ...

'' (2016) and '' Pad Man'' (2018).

Legacy

Sreeram is well known for his longtime association with

Moulee T. S. B. K. Moulee (born: March 14, 1947 Thiruvidaimarudur Sambamoorthy Ganapathy Balakrishna Sastrigal Mouli) is an Indian film director, writer, playwright, thespian and actor known for his works in Tamil cinema and Telugu cinema. His cellulo ...

and

. He received critical acclaim for his work in films such as ''

'', ''

'', '' Geetaanjali'', ''

'', ''

'' and ''

''. He has mentored some of the prominent cinematographers in the Indian film industry including Jeeva, M. S. Prabhu, Ramji,

Chezhiyan Chezhiyan is an Indian filmmaker and director of photography who works primarily in the Tamil film industry. He received critical acclaim for his work in '' Kalloori'' (2007), '' Paradesi'' (2013) and '' To Let'' (2017). Early life and educat ...

Fowzia Fathima Fowzia Fathima (born 24 January 1972) is an Indian film cinematographer and director. Fowzia is known for her cinematography on feature films such as Mitr, My Friend 2012, Gulumaal: The Escape 2009 and Uyir 2006. She is an intuitive practiti ...

, Mahesh Muthuswami, Dwaraganath, Arun Vincent, Preetha Jayaraman,

K. V. Anand Karimanal Venkatesan Anand (30 October 1966 30 April 2021) was an Indian cinematographer, film director and photojournalist, worked mainly in the Tamil film industry. After a short period as a journalist, he became a cinematographer in the e ...

Tirru S. Thirunavukarasu (born 21 July 1966), better known mononymously as Tirru, is an Indian cinematographer who has worked in multiple languages across India. He won the National Film Award for Best Cinematography for '' 24'' (2016). Personal ...

, Balasubramaniem,

K. V. Guhan K. V. Guhan is an Indian cinematographer from Chennai, India. Guhan is the younger brother of the Tamil film director, Saran. He collaborated with director Radha Mohan, for two notable films in Tamil cinema, '' Mozhi'' (2007) and '' Payanam' ...

Nirav Shah Nirav Shah (born 16 November 1974) is an Indian cinematographer. He has worked on a number of major box office hits in Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam since his debut with the 2004 Hindi film '' Paisa Vasool''. Career After having worked as an as ...

, sivakumar vijayan, tanveer mir, vivek anand, sathyan sooryan, and Arvind Krishna.Profile: DP – Balasubramaniem
Cine Herald, 21 Apr 2011 In January 2016, Sreeram was elected as the president of South Indian Film Cinematographers Association.

Filmography

As cinematographer

As director

Awards

, - ! scope="row" , 1987 , ''

'' ,

National Film Award for Best Cinematography The National Film Award for Best Cinematography is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several awards p ...

, , , - ! scope="row" , 1990 , '' Geethanjali'' ,

Nandi Award for Best Cinematographer The Nandi Award for Best Cinematographer winners was commissioned since 1977: References {{DEFAULTSORT:Nandi Award For Best Cinematographer Cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γρ ...

, , , - ! scope="row" , 1992 , ''

'' , Cinema Express Award for Best Cameraman , , , - ! scope="row" , 1993 , ''

'' , Cinema Express Award for Best Cameraman , , , - ! scope="row" , 2000 , ''

'' , Filmfare Award for Best Cinematographer - South , , , - ! scope="row" , 2006 , ''

Varalaru ''Varalaru: History Of Godfather'', or simply known as ''Varalaru'' (), is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language action-drama film written and directed by K. S. Ravikumar, and produced by S. S. Chakravarthy under the banner NIC Arts. The film stars ...

'' , Vijay Award for Best Cinematographer (Special Jury) , , , - ! scope="row" , 2012 , ''

'' , CineMAA Award for Best Cinematographer , , , - ! scope="row" , 2012 , ''

'' , CineMAA Award for Life Time Contribution , , , - ! scope"row" , 2012 , ''

'' ,

SIIMA Award for Best Cinematographer (Telugu) South Indian International Movie Awards, also known as the SIIMA Awards, rewards the artistic and technical achievements of the South Indian film industry. It was launched in 2012 by Vishnu Vardhan Induri and Brinda Prasad Adusimilli to apprec ...

, ,

References

External links

Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sreeram, P. C. Living people Tamil film directors Tamil-language film directors Tamil film cinematographers Malayalam film cinematographers Best Cinematography National Film Award winners M.G.R. Government Film and Television Training Institute alumni Indian Tamil people 1956 births Film directors from Chennai Telugu film cinematographers Nandi Award winners 20th-century Indian film directors 21st-century Indian film directors 20th-century Indian photographers 21st-century Indian photographers Cinematographers from Tamil Nadu