Ashok Kumar (cinematographer)

Ashok Kumar Aggarwal (circa 1941 – 22 October 2014)[1] was an Indian cinematographer who worked mainly in the South Indian film industry. In a career that spanned nearly four decades, he worked in over 125 feature films in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi languages. Aggarwal was a member of the Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC).

For other people named Ashok Kumar, see Ashok Kumar (disambiguation).

Ashok Kumar
Born
Ashok Kumar Aggarwal

circa 1941
Allahabad, North-Western Provinces (now a part of Uttar Pradesh), British India
Died22 October 2014 (aged 73)
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
OccupationCinematographer, film director
Years active1969–2006
Children4 sons
Awards

Born in Allahabad to a Hindi poet, Ashok Kumar obtained a diploma in photography from the Allahabad University. His passion for cinema made him enroll for a course in motion picture photography at the Institute of Film Technology, Adyar, Chennai. Upon passing out of the institute, he made his cinematic debut with the 1969 Malayalam film Janmabhoomi for which he was awarded that year's Kerala State Film Award for Best Cinematography. His association with P. N. Menon in the early 1970s cemented his place in the Malayalam film industry. He also worked for other filmmakers such as Babu Nanthankode, J. D. Thottan, Bharathan, N. Sankaran Nair and Ramu Kariat. He got his break in Tamil cinema with J. Mahendran's Uthiripookkal (1979). He was associated with Mahendran in most of his films.

Apart from several state government awards, Ashok Kumar was also a recipient of the National Film Award for Best Cinematography. During his career, he also directed ten feature films in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. He was married and one of his sons, Akash Aggarwal, works as a cinematographer in Tamil films.

Biography

Ashok Kumar was born in Allahabad, North-Western Provinces, British India, to Kedarnath Aggarwal, a Hindi poet. He was passionate about cinema right from his childhood despite his family not being connected to films. After obtaining a diploma in photography from the Allahabad University, he decided to join a film institute in order to pursue a career in filmmaking. Although his family was initially not supportive of his decision, he was allowed to go to Madras rather than Bombay.[2] He gained an admission at the Institute of Film Technology, (now Film and Television Institute of Tamil Nadu) Adyar, for a course in motion photography.[3] At the institute, he was exposed to World cinema including that of Satyajit Ray's. After passing out of the institute, he made his debut as a cinematographer in the 1969 Malayalam film Janmabhoomi.[4] John Sankaramangalam, his teacher at the institute, was its director.[2] The film was funded by Ashok Kumar along with a few of his batchmates at the institute. The film dealt with the theme of religious co-existence and won the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration at the 16th National Film Awards. 1st Kerala State Film Awards, Ashok Kumar was awarded the Best Cinematography for the film.[2] Following that, he received several offers in Malayalam for directors such as P. N. Menon, Babu Nanthankode, J. Sasikumar, Ramu Kariat and Bharathan. His involvement with the Malayalam film industry in the 1970s, earned him two more state government awards—for Swapnam (1973) and Taxi Driver (1977).[4]

In 1978, when the Tamil film director J. Mahendran was searching for a cinematographer to shoot his directorial debut Mullum Malarum, he approached Malayalam cinematographer Ramachandra Babu. The latter, who was busy with his Malayalam film at the time, had suggested Ashok Kumar to Mahendran.[5] However, based on actor Kamal Haasan's suggestion Balu Mahendra was selected for the film. Meanwhile, Mahendran had watched some of Ashok Kumar's Malayalam films and found some of his angles and lighting techniques to be very interesting.[5] For his second film, Uthiripookkal, Mahendran approached Ashok Kumar as Balu Mahendra was busy with his directorial, Azhiyadha Kolangal.[6] The latter accepted the offer this time and made his Tamil cinema debut.[4] Following the film, Ashok Kumar continued to concentrate more on Tamil films. He became Mahendran's regular cinematographer and worked in nine of his twelve films, including Johnny (1980), Nenjathai Killathe (1980), Nandu (1981) and Metti (1982).[7] For his work in Nenjathai Killathe, he won the National Film Award for Best Cinematography and Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Cinematographer.[2][3]

During the mid 1980s, Ashok Kumar concentrated ventured into commercial films. He shot K. Bhagyaraj's Darling, Darling, Darling (1982) and Mundhanai Mudichu (1983). He worked in My Dear Kuttichathan (1984), India's first 3D film.[2][8] He also worked with S. Shankar in Jeans (1998). His Hindi films include Kamagni (1987), Bawandar (2000) and Kehtaa Hai Dil Baar Baar (2002). Bawandar received international acclaim and won the Best Film award in several international film festivals. Ashok Kumar was awarded the V. Shantaram Award for Best Cinematography for the film.[9]

Ashok Kumar served as jury member of the 43rd National Film Awards.[10] Over his film career, his assistants include P. S. Nivas, Suhasini Maniratnam and B. R. Vijayalakshmi. Contemporary cinematographers such as Ramachandra Babu, P. C. Sreeram, Ravi K. Chandran and Venu have also spoken of being inspired by his work.[8]

Personal life

Ashok Kumar was married and had four sons. Two of his sons, Akash Aggarwal and Sameer Aggarwal are also cinematographers.[8] His family is based in Chennai. Following severe illness in June 2014, Ashok Kumar was admitted to hospitals in Hyderabad and Chennai where he had undergone treatment for a period of about six months before passing away on 22 October 2014 at the age of 73 in Chennai.[11]

Awards

National Film Award for Best Cinematography

Kerala State Film Award for Best Cinematography

Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Cinematographer

Nandi Award for Best Cinematographer
  • 2000 – Sri Sai Mahima[12]

V. Shantaram Awards

Filmography

As cinematographer

As director and cinematographer
  • Kamagni (1987; Hindi)
  • Ullam Kavarndha Kalvan (1987; Tamil)
  • Abhinandana (1988; Telugu)
  • Neerajanam (1989; Telugu)
  • Andru Peytha Mazhaiyil (1989; Tamil)
  • Thambikku Oru Paattu (1991)
  • Kaama (1999; Tamil, Telugu, Hindi)
  • Sri Sai Mahima (2000; Telugu)[13]
  • Khajuraho (2002; Hindi)
gollark: I'm more worried about poorly programmed applications using 32 bit time for some stupid reason.
gollark: Did you know? Time ends on 03:14:07 UTC on 19 January 2038 and began on 01/01/1970 CE!
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gollark: Hmm, so you're suggesting that the problem is monolithic design more generally?
gollark: I mean, I can `pacman -Syu` and have stuff work without rebooting. Except kernel updates, for which I can do `kexec`.

References
  1. "Cinematographer Ashok Kumar passes away". India Today. 22 October 2014. Archived from the original on 23 November 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  2. Warrier, Shobha (25 March 1999). "'Alas, realistic movies are dead'". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  3. "28th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  4. ராஜா, செந்தில் நாதன். "உதிர்ந்தது ஓர் உதிரிப் பூ!". Cinema Express (in Tamil). Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  5. Srinivasan, Sudhir (25 October 2014). "My friend Ashok". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  6. "மகேந்திரன் டைரக்ஷனில் உருவான மிகச்சிறந்த கலைப்படைப்பு 'உதிரிப்பூக்கள்'". Maalai Malar (in Tamil). 14 May 2012. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  7. "அசல் கலைஞன்!". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). 30 October 2014. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  8. P. K., Ajith Kumar (24 October 2014). "He created magic with movie camera". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  9. "'Backwaters' brings a mystery of India". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 24 June 2007. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  10. "43rd National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals. Archived from the original on 15 December 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  11. "Ace cinematographer of Tamil films Ashok Kumar dies". Odisha Sun Times. 22 October 2014. Archived from the original on 7 May 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  12. "Nandi Awards 2000 – 2001". idlebrain.com. 19 September 2002. Archived from the original on 16 September 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
  13. "Straight Telugu films released in year 2000". idlebrain.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
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