Maasaru Kaatchiyavaruku: A tribute to Lakshmikantan’s timeless frames of Tamil cinema

CHENNAI: The 1970s and 1980s were undoubtedly a golden era for the Tamil film industry. Tamil cinema was stepping into a phase of transformation, and there was a balance of commercial and content-driven films.

Lakshmikantan, a still photographer, who started his career in 1970 with Gemini Ganesan’s Sangamam. The look of Sivaji, wearing red attire and a crown similar to that of King George, in Gouravam (1973) is etched deep in the memories of cinephiles. It was Lakshmikantan who was behind the iconic image. The picture remained close to Sivaji’s heart and the photographer also became the photographer of Sivaji’s home production company.

To celebrate and pay tribute to his remarkable journey of five decades, the Chennai Photo Biennale is organising an exhibition titled Maasaru Kaatchiyavaruku, which is curated by Nirmal Rajagopalan.

“Film producer Suresh Balajie was instrumental in giving us access to Lakshmikantan’s photo archive. The archive documents more than 200 films from his career across different languages including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. His candid shots were mostly used for promotions or as a continuity shot for reference purposes,” starts Nirmal, who has curated the works of the photographer for 10 films between the timeline 1977 and 1982.

“The perspective of these photographs is quite different from what we see onscreen. While the actual filming by a cinematographer will be going on, Lakshmikantan will also be seen shooting the same sequence but from a different angle. His archive is a treasure trove for cinephiles to explore and I hope that this exhibition helps to shed light on all of his works in the future,” he says.

Lakshmikantan has worked with many legendary filmmakers, including Bharathiraja (From 16 Vayathinile to Tik Tik Tik), Bhagyaraj, and Priyadharshan. He ventured into the Hindi film industry through Priyadharshan. With a career spanning across five decades, his last film was Urvasi-starrer Appatha (2023). Now in his early 80s, his works were mostly in monochrome. “The monochrome effect adds a layer of difference in the images. When we see the pictures, the film scene strikes our mind and we imagine the picture with colours, taking a trip down memory lane,” adds the curator.

To add a unique element to the event, Nirmal has classified the exhibited works according to different Tirukurals. “For example, a kural compares the beauty of a woman with that of the moon. And here, we have a set of images which has stills of Tamil cinema’s dream girls Sri Devi, Madhavi, Radha and Vijayashanthi,” he shares.

As this archive is viewed only by a handful of individuals in the past, Maasaru Kaatchiyavaruku reflects different emotions of not just the lead actors but also supporting actors like Goundamani and Thengai Srinivasan.

Explore 50 works of Lakshmikantan at this first-of-its-kind exhibition till March 16 at Thiruvanmiyur MRTS Park.