Focus on moving images

Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Painting with light: Navroze Contractor.

Acclaimed cinematographer Navroze Contractor is also an avid photographer, artist, writer and enthusiastic motorcyclist. He was in Thiruvananthapuram as part of the jury for long and short documentaries at the Second International Documentary and Short film festival of Kerala. Excerpts from an interview...

You have a degree in painting and photography from M.S. University of Baroda. What then made you take up cinematography?

It was a natural progression. At a certain point I wanted to make my images move and I joined the Film and Television Institute, Pune. In those days, however, it was compulsory for anyone taking up cinematography to have a degree in science. So I was given a seat in direction instead. I dropped out after a year and later studied cinematography with the legendary Laszlo Kovacs in the United States.

You have worked on award winning feature films such as ‘Duvidha’ by Mani Kaul, ‘Devi Ahilya Bhai’ by Nachiketh Patwardhan and ‘Percy’ by Pervez Merwanji plus acclaimed documentaries such as ‘Are You Listening?’ by Martha Stewart, ‘Dreams of the Dragon’s Children’ by Pierre Hoffman and ‘Ballad of Pabu’ by George Luneau, to name a few. Which of the two genres do you prefer?

I am comfortable with both. Back when I started, the camera was still a bulky piece of equipment. One had to sort of block the characters and set up frames for documentaries as one would for feature films. Of course in a feature film one is slightly more restricted in that there is less spontaneity on location.

You have made some of your most powerful documentaries before the advent of cable television when people were not as media savvy. Was it difficult for you to get your subjects to cooperate?

On the contrary, the camera often became our passport. There was still a great deal of mystery surrounding the process of filming and people wanted to be involved somehow. I was a great fan of the ‘cinema verite’ style of filming where the camera was a fly on the wall. When I started filming, however, I wanted to make my subjects aware of the camera. In ‘Something Like a War’ (1991) – a film about India’s family planning programme from a woman’s perspective, the women we shot were very aware of our presence and trusted us completely.

Was it difficult for you to work on video after you had worked on film?

Technology does not wait for anyone. I realised that if I wanted to continue doing what I loved doing I had better embrace technology. The great thing about video is that it suddenly made the whole process so inexpensive and accessible.

You have shot most of the films made by your wife, Deepa Dhanraj. What is it like to collaborate with your spouse?

Deepa has implicit faith in me as a cinematographer. This is very important when you are making the kind of political films that we make. We have played important roles in each other’s evolution as individual artistes.

You are also a prolific writer…

Yes. I write about most of the things I am passionate about. My first book ‘The Dreams of the Dragon’s Children,’ published by Penguin was about my travels in China. I am an enthusiastic motorcyclist and I contribute regularly as ‘editor at large’ to Car India, Bike India, the e-magazine Wheels Unplugged and so on.

Tell us about Aarna Jharna

Aarna Jharna is a museum on brooms that is being set up in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, by some friends of mine. It is funded by the Ford Foundation. I am doing the visual documentation for them. They are showcasing nearly 160 different kinds of brooms. The museum speaks of their history, the people who make them, their impact on the ecology of the region and so on.

Have you ever thought of directing a film?

Everyone wants to direct one film. I will too, one day. I don’t think it is time yet.

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