S. Ravi Varman ISC is an Indian cinematographer, filmmaker, producer and writer. He predominantly works in Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi film industries. Varman began his career in Malayalam cinema. He directed a romantic film in Tamil titled '' Moscowin Kavery'' (2010). He is an honorary member of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

(AM-pass). He was awarded the

National Film Award for Best Cinematography The National Film Award for Best Cinematography is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Rajat Kamal (S ...

for his work in '' Ponniyin Selvan: I'' (2022).

Early life

Ravi was born in a village named Poyyundarkudikadu near Pattukottai in

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also known as Thanjai, previously known as Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 12th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of southern Indian religion, art ...

district,

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, India. Ravi adopted his surname inspired by the Chola kings Arunmozhi Varman and Kulothunga Varman. His interest in photography and cinematography developed during his formative years, as he studied the works of painters like

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

and

Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

. Following the loss of his parents, he moved to Chennai at the age of 14. His career in cinematography began after working as an office boy in a film production company, where he trained under cinematographer Ravi K. Chandran.

Career

He made his debut as a cinematographer with '' Jalamarmaram'' (1999) and gained attention with Jayaraj's Malayalam film '' Shantham'' (2001), earning the 23rd EMI Third Continent Award for Best Cinematography. After working in Malayalam films since 1999 for three years, he worked in

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

for the film '' Yeh Dil'' in 2003. He later worked in the Telugu film '' Jai'' and received more offers in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, such as '' Armaan'', ''Bee Busthar'', '' Ramji Londonwale'', and '' Phir Milenge'', His next project is going to be with Maniratnam. It was not until 2002 when he started to work in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

films, with his first one being Susi Ganeshan's ''

Five Star Five Star (also styled as 5 Star) were a British Pop music, pop group, formed in 1983 and comprising siblings Stedman Pearson, Stedman, Lorraine, Denise Pearson, Denise, Doris, and Delroy Pearson. From 1985 to 1988, Five Star had four top-20 a ...

''. He continued to work with directors as a cinematographer in Tamil films, including S. Shankar's ''

Anniyan ''Anniyan'' ( ) is a 2005 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language psychological fiction, psychological action thriller film directed by S. Shankar and produced by V. Ravichandran (film producer), V. Ravichandran. The film stars Vikram (actor), V ...

'',

Gautham Vasudev Menon Gautham Vasudev Menon (born 25 February 1973) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, film producer and actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, Tamil film industry. He has also directed Telugu cinema, Telugu, Hindi cinema, Hindi and Ma ...

's '' Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu'', K. S. Ravikumar's '' Dasavathaaram'' and '' Villu'', which was directed by

Prabhu Deva Prabhu Deva (born 3 April 1973) is an Indian dance choreographer, film director, producer and actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil language, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu language, Telugu language films also appeared in few Kannada and Malayal ...

. In 2023, Ravi received his first

for his work on '' Ponniyin Selvan: I'', directed by Mani Ratnam and was featured in the FC-Ormax Power List of Technicians, recognizing his contributions to the entertainment industry alongside other prominent technicians. In 2024, Varman directed and co-produced ''Bande Utkala Janani Anthem'', a tourism video promoting the state of

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

. The video features music by Pritam and uses the lyrics of " Bande Utkala Janani", a patriotic anthem written by Odia poet Kantakabi Laxmikanta Mohapatra. After completing '' Ponniyin Selvan'', Ravi worked on Revathy’s '' Salaam Venky'' and resumed post-production on Ratnam's film. Varman collaborated with

Kamal Haasan Parthasarathy Srinivasan (born 7 November 1954), known professionally as Kamal Haasan, is an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Considered as one of the most accomplished actors of Indian Cinema, Haas ...

once again on '' Indian 2'', after previously working with him on Dasavathaaram (2008). The film is a sequel to '' Indian'' (1996) In 2024, Varman was invited to join the

as part of its 2025 class of new members. He is currently working on the upcoming movie '' Love Insurance Kompany'', directed by Vignesh Shivan.

Awards and honours

* Filmfare Award for Best Cinematographer – South for ''

'' (2006) * Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Cinematographer for '' Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu'' (2007) * ITFA Best Cinematographer Award for '' Dasavathaaram'' (2009) * Star Guild Awards for Best Cinematography for '' Barfi!'' (2012) * Screen Awards for Best cinematography for '' Barfi!'' (2012) * IIFA Awards for Best Cinematography for '' Barfi!'' (2012) *

Zee Cine Awards The Zee Cine Award (ZCA) is an annual Indian awards ceremony for the Hindi film industry. They were instituted in November 1997 to award "Excellence in cinema – the democratic way". They were first held in Mumbai until 2004, when the ZCA w ...

for Best cinematography for '' Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela'' (2014) * Vijay Award for Best Cinematography for '' Kaatru Veliyidai'' (2017) * SIIMA Award for Best Cinematography for '' Kaatru Veliyidai'' (2017) * Filmfare Award for Best Cinematographer – South for '' Ponniyin Selvan: I'' (2023) * Filmfare Award for Best Cinematographer – South for ''Ponniyin Selvan: II'' (2024) *

for '' Ponniyin Selvan: I'' (2024)

Filmography

As producer

* '' Vellaiya Irukiravan Poi Solla Maatan'' (2015)

As cinematographer

Films

As guest cinematographer

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Varman, Ravi Living people Cinematographers from Tamil Nadu Malayalam film cinematographers Filmfare Awards South winners People from Thanjavur district Tamil cinematographers Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners 21st-century Indian photographers Film producers from Tamil Nadu Film directors from Tamil Nadu Telugu film cinematographers Tamil film producers Tamil film directors 1972 births IIFA Utsavam winners