Remembering the cinematographer of Sankarabharanam

Forty years ago, this film of K Viswanath – Sankarabharanam - set out to create a never-before, never after sensation in Indian cinema. Apart from its stupendous response, the film also brought in a collection of talented team members who lent their domain expertise to make the film a rich, watchable experience.

If the songs were composed to attain an evergreen status by legendary music director, K V Mahadevan, the film maintained a great visual appeal, courtesy the cinematographer, Balu Mahendra (1939-2014), whose 81st birth anniversary it is today. He had a host of Telugu films to his credit, among which 'Manavoori Pandavulu' also was one.

An amazing professional with a great aesthetic sense and talent, Balu Mahendra, a Sri Lankan national graduated from the Film & Television Institute of India in 1966 and worked for the next three decades in all forms of cinema – the art film genre, middle-of-the-road and sensitive social themed ones.

His works were appreciated across the film industries of India from Malayalam where he started to Tamil to Telugu and Hindi, where his 'Sadma', a remake of his Tamil hit 'Moondram Pirai' starring Kamal Haasan and Sridevi was released in 1983.

He was a successful director with over 25 films to his credit and also was a cinematographer exclusively for a similar number of films. In Tamil cinema, he was among the three greats who had changed the industry into a new direction along with Bharati Rajaa and Mahendran.