Republica’s Yukta Bajracharya caught up with Pradhan who’s currently on vacation in Nepal (but keeping himself busy with events like the recent interaction program for Ekadeshma 2013: Festival De’ Contemporary Cinema held in Kathmandu on Tuesday).
You started photography at a young age. What were your photography interests back then?
One of the first photos I took was of my friend standing on a rooftop. When I reached Class Six, I started taking sort of professional sports photos in school. I also used to work in my father’s studio, and I remember when I was in about Class 10, a soldier who came to get his passport photos taken was flabbergasted when he found out that I was the photographer. He was very apprehensive about the photos but I hope he liked them.
After Class 10, I became very interested in still photography. I used to go to the haat bazaar and take pictures of the market and the sellers. One picture memory that stays with me is the picture I took of a murai (puffed-rice treats) seller, who was picking his nose. My interest then shifted to landscape photography.
How did your journey in cinematography start?
After I’d learnt everything I could learn staying in my hometown, I went to the Film Institute of India (now the Film and Television Institute of India) in Pune and did a three-year course in cinematography. There was no place for the type of photography I wanted to do back then. For me, photography is more of an art and I wasn’t interested in shooting models and stars for fashion magazines. After passing out of college, I stopped still photography altogether. By this time, I was quite involved in motion pictures. Film Director Prem Sagar, who was visiting my college saw my work and offered me a job.
So that’s how Bollywood happened?
I didn’t want Bollywood to happen. It was forced unto me. I actually wanted to go back to Kalimpong to my father’s studio.
When you entered Bollywood, was good cinematography an important component of movies?
When I came to Bollywood, it was hardly there. Directors preferred whoever could shoot faster. There still are directors who don’t need good cinematography and have other prerogatives. But “hurry up” is a phrase I can’t work with. I get much stressed.
Do you think good cinematography can save an otherwise bad movie?
Save, no. Cinematography is only the medium. For a good movie, all the ingredients have to be correct. However, good cinematography can make a film look more acceptable.
You’ve worked with a few movies in Nepal. How have your experiences been?
Working in Nepal is like being with family, having fun. Not that we don’t work though. We do. But there’s less stress and it’s more like working with friends. We talk and joke in Nepali and it’s like being at home. Whenever I come here, I feel very nice. After all, this is
the place where my people are.
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