Aseem Mishra, the cinematographer of films like New York, Paan Singh Tomar and Bajrangi Bhaijaan talks to us about his early days, his craft and of course Salman Khan.
Q: After Jamia, how difficult was it to get into and familiarise yourself with the Bollywood routine? Did you assist anyone before taking on Ram Gopal Varma’s Contract?
Aseem: Actually, just after passing out from MCRC I joined TV18, it was a very small company then. While in TV18, I was already shooting for many shows, from single camera to multi-cams. It’s in TV18 that I was first introduced to fiction and that was for a series called Bhanwar on Sony. There was no studied style, I was shooting instinctively.
Bhanwar became a much watched TV show and slowly I registered that whatever I was shooting is being liked by people. Since I hadn’t assisted anyone it gave me a lot of confidence that my trial and error technique was finally working. It was not a big budget fiction. I experimented a lot, with available lights, bulbs, Chinese lanterns, locally available tungsten lights. Everything that basically illuminated an object, even normal household tube lights. I figured out that single source light is the best for my kind of cinematography.
Q: Do you miss the non-feature style of filming, having been a part of so many documentaries? The unpredictable, raw shooting style of the documentary versus the rehearsed and planned Bollywood shoots.
Aseem: Yes, I miss those documentary days a lot, where everything was unpredictable, no rehearsals nothing. Just point and shoot thoughtfully, look for compositions in chaos - that’s where the major learning came from. That’s where I developed this whole business of instinct, which became a very big tool for me in Bollywood.
In fact, my camera operation is thanks to news and documentary films. But a lot of things have remained constant. The way I understand the movement of sun (following the sunlight), movement of characters in an action scene, existing light vs artificial light, use of zoom lens and operating with long lenses. I think it all came from shooting so many documentaries. In fact, I still prefer shooting in a real location whether it’s a day or a night scene. There’s that certain beauty in unpredictability. I love that sense of anticipation. Each location reacts so differently with the same kind of lighting. I am trying to use whatever I learnt in my documentary days to my present days in Bollywood. I have used these styles a lot in Phantom, Ek Tha Tiger, Paan Singh Tomar. I use a lot of Optimo 24 -290 mm lens to capture action.
Q: Given a choice to shoot with film or digital, what would your first preference be, if the script and type of film was not considered.
Aseem: For me it actually doesn’t matter. We have to treat them as different mediums. I was trained in both film as well as digital in MCRC Jamia. What I had not seen was a 35mm film camera on which I have shot most of my films till now. I am aware of the debate between film and digital, and honestly for me it actually doesn’t matter. For me, what matters is the lighting and the composition.
Poetically, yes, the smell of the emulsion, the excitement of rushes coming out from the lab and watching it for the first time, pushing the film and waiting for the result. But one thing is true, film had more discipline. It was not - ‘lets do another take’, first you rehearse 10 times and then go for a take. That somehow we have lost in digital.
Q: Over the years that you’ve been part of the industry, do you notice that technicians, especially camerapersons are more valued and respected than they were when you started of?
Aseem: I think the whole game changed once digital came in. Respect is itself very subjective, it used to be very different earlier. Cinematographers were much more important then, because the image of your whole film and a director’s hard work depended solely on him!
Now it also depends on who your colourists are in the DI stage. Also, the discipline to some extent is gone. Now-a-days, even your 7th assistant director can look into the frame or the monitor and say, red in the background is too red. Now, who’s going to tell him that the camera is seeing that red differently, my dear friend! Also, cellphones with cameras, small digital cameras with a good output have given an opportunity to a lot of people to become camerapersons. Good or bad I don’t know. I would still say, to be a good cinematographer or DOP, one needs to have the basics right. Just by owning a 5D you don’t become a DOP!
Q: Which was the most challenging film to shoot?
Aseem: I don’t take anything related to a film shoot or making as challenge. As long as I am enjoying it, there’s nothing called challenge for me. I call these so called challenging moments as interesting moments. You always learn something from these moments. Paan Singh Tomar was interesting because it was shot on Super 16mm. Sahib Biwi Aur Gangster part one was interesting because it was Hindi cinema’s first film on digital, the ARRI Alexa. Phantom was interesting because we were shooting in downtown Beirut in Khandaq al-Ghamiq, which is a strong hold of Shia militia. So each film has its own interesting moments. Just be there and enjoy it. You are a painter, you are supposed to enjoy the process of painting!
Q: How many days did you shoot Bajrangi Bhaijaan in and which was the most difficult schedule on Bajrangi Bhaijaan?
Aseem: We shot Bajrangi Bhaijaan in 115 days. I think it was shooting the climax scene. It wasn’t difficult, but it was very time consuming. Everything slows down when you shoot in snow, sand or sea. Also, the weather kept changing very fast. One moment it will be sunny and then it’s overcast. Though we kept checking the weather on weather reporting websites, it was not very accurate. In fact, there were days when we had to cancel the whole day’s shoot. I must say, Salman Khan was more than cooperative, he would wait patiently under a tent with sub-zero temperatures.
Q: How much scope does Bollywood provide to a cameraperson to experiment?
Aseem: To me, a lot, with others I don’t know. It also depends on your rapport with the director, his belief in your work. In my case, I have been lucky. My relationship with the directors have been friendly as well as professional. Our conversations range from cinema to music to socio-political issues. It’s very important to have a good sync with the director. Like for example, with Kabir Khan it’s mutual respect for each other’s work and space. A lot depends on how you are translating the director’s vision. I mean, you walk into the set as director of photography and not the director of the film!
Q: Tell us five things no one knows about Salman Khan.
Aseem: Salman is an extremely patient man, he’s a fantastic painter, a very good singer. He is very helpful when it comes to people in need and believe it or not he has a flair for gymnastics.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)