‘I don’t want to restrict myself to a director or a genre’

CHENNAI: Cinematographer Selvakumar SK isn’t a chatty person at first. As he gets comfortable, he is a journalist’s delight. “I am an introvert and I strongly believe that my work should do the talking, which is why I am not used to giving interviews,” he begins.

Having worked in commercially viable and critically-acclaimed films such as Maanagaram, Mehandi Circus, Gypsy and the recently-released August 16, 1947— each film dealing with different colour palettes, Selvakumar says, “Script is crucial before we head out for a project. Just like how a director or an actor prepares for a movie after listening to a story, I sit and do my pre-production work. There will be a lot of quests in me when I hear a script on what I would do to enhance the project. For instance, Raju Murugan and I set out for a recce even before the script was finalised. There I understood what he wanted and ensured that we both are on the same page.”

Selvakumar says that he is here to explore various genres. “Each genre has a colour pattern. For instance, Maanagaram was a hyperlinked thriller that was shot at night. Mehandi Circus was about a gypsy troupe coming to Kodaikanal and how an Ilaiyaraaja fan falls for a gypsy girl. My next film Siren with Jayam Ravi and Raghava Lawrence-Nayanthara film with Rathna Kumar are different genres. I don’t want to restrict myself to a specific director or genre,” he explains. However, he ensures that he will collaborate with Lokesh Kanagaraj soon. “We haven’t decided on the project yet but we will join hands soon for a film,” he concludes.