One of Tamil film industry's well known name K.V. Anand passed away at 54 today. His demise not only came as a shock to his fans but also his colleagues and all day today, emotions have been on a rollercoaster ride. A filmmaker who came from humble beginnings, K.V. Anand was primarily a freelance photojournalist and worked for top publications like the Kalki and India Today.
In the early 90s, he joined acclaimed cinematographer PC Sreeram as his sixth assistant and one of the movies that came Sreeram's way was given to Anand, thus paving the latter's cinematic debut. The lensman went on to win a National film award for his very first film, and soon became a sought-after name in the movie industry.
K.V. Anand shifted gears to direction in 2005 and redefined the way commercial movies were seen in Tamil cinema. His films had things, the Tamil movie audience weren't used to in make-believe worlds. So here is a tribute to what set him apart as a film-maker and a cinematographer:
1. Tamil Titles
Between 2006 and 2017, one too many Kollywood movies resorted to pure Tamil titles (without any English words or numbers), just to get a waiver off the entertainment tax from the state government. A few like K.V. Anand took this opportunity to bring in their artistic best, and introduced the cine-goers to rare Tamil words.
Not only were K.V. Anand's titles uncommon, they also had a beautiful ring to them. e,g, Ayan, Mattrraan, Anegan, Kavan.
2. Interesting Concepts
Another signature of K.V. Anand as a film-maker was that he used rarely-touched and interesting concepts for his movies. Each of his directorials dealt with different topics and it kept his audience interested in his work.
- Kana Kandaen - Desalination
- Ayan - International Smuggling
- Ko - In depth Politics
- Maattrraan - Gene Editing, Conjoined Twins
- Anegan - Reincarnation
- Kavan - TRPs
- Kappaan - Locust Attack, SPG
3. Iconic Shots
K.V. Anand's eternal love for cinematography and photography was evident even in films he directed. The songs of his movies were shot in the most aesthetic locations and even the way they were shot stood out from the rest of the songs in Tamil movies. It is worth mentioning here that K.V. Anand never wielded the camera for any of his own films.
4. Man of Twists
K.V. Anand's movies were popular for their unexpected twists and turns and he kept his audience on his toes by adding fast paced transmissions to it. Be it Jagan's loyalty in Ayan or the Villain reveal in KO, the director had left a lasting impression with this aspect which even affected him on the downside with movies like Maattraan (People complained that Maattraan was a straight-forward movie).
Despite the grandeur, K.V. Anand wasn't catering to a niche audience. His films were commercial through and through, except he did not go over the top with his presentation. Be it the fight scenes or the twists and turns in his story-line, the director always made it believable. The director also famously took a dig on himself in his movie KO and for all this and more, the film-maker K.V. Anand will be sorely missed.
5. KV Anand - The Cinematographer
Even after he entered film-making, K,V, Anand has time and again reiterated that his eternal love will always be cinematography and photography. He was talented in it too and movies like Mudhalvan with the famous interview scene, Sivaji with its cutting-edge shots and Nerruku Ner with face-off concepts when they were not frequently used in Tamil cinema stand testament to the same.
As a cinematographer, K.V. Anand collaborated most with directors Shankar and Priyadarshan for 4 films each. Director Shankar wanting KV Anand for a big film like 2.0, even after the latter had established himself as a director, speaks volumes about Anand's with the camera. [K.V. Anand revealed in an interview that he couldn't take up 2.0 because of his directorial commitments].