Shanti Bhushan Roy,D O P-who is responsible for making all the characters look gorgeous and at their very best in film Wedding Anniversary .
Wedding Anniversary", a film which stars Nana Patekar, Mahie Gill and Priyanshu Chatterjee, are actors who are known for their realistic slice of life representations in their earlier films, but have moved from that with a different turn in this film: all looking gorgeous and classy! This is Nana's best screen avatar as he has never looked this soft, handsome and approachable ever and so is Mahie Gill has never looked this glamorous, who is known for her realistic and powerful roles. Although film critics have slammed the film as "a film on marriage counselling etc., the man behind the camera Shanti Bhushan Roy - who is responsible for making all the characters look gorgeous and at their very best - has treated this film as a poetic love story. With Shanti Bhushan Roy's camera movements and the beautiful soft lighting, he has not only created a mood for the story and its setting but also attracts the viewers to the characters of Kahani (Mahie Gill) and Nagarjun (Nana Patekar) along with others.
As Director of Photography, when Shanti Bhushan Roy first read the beautifully written script, by Director Shekhar S Jha, the location enthralled Shanti. This time around Goa would be different from what Bollywood films have explored so far. The director completely entrusted Shanti to work on the look and feel of the film. He closely collaborated with the team - the Production Designer Asad Khan along with Direction and Costume departments.
For Shanti Bhushan Roy who has deep interest in World Cinema since his FTII days and loves poetry and prose as he is an avid reader –this script was a very mature love story and it was deep because the story is a journey through the heart and soul of various characters and their idea of love. Its was a journey to be experienced and take home and ponder over.
Working with veterans like Nana Patekar and Mahie Gill set a very high benchmark. The expectations were really high.
Director Shekhar S Jha who stood by his DoP Shanti Bhushan Roy, in spite of Nana Patekar's initial apprehension of seeing a much younger person in charge of camera department. Nana was not only amused but also apprehensive of how he would be represented on screen. But all fell in place when the veteran actor saw the first day rushes. He loved the framing, lighting and movements.
There was absolute sync between all the departments on the sets and work happened pretty smoothly.
There were many aesthetic choices were taken in sync with the story and also giving the veteran actors absolute freedom. Like most of the film was shot either on Steadycam or Handheld – so that actors could have absolute freedom to be able to improvise their movements and use the set to suit their performance. It was an absolute example of how the director and the Director of Photogrpahy would work without speaking much on the sets as most of the decisions were already taken before going on floor.
That’s how we finished the shoot before the stipulated 50 days schedule- which was planned by the production.
The young physics graduate from Patna, with Silicon Valley dreams, Shanti was pursuing Masters in Computer Application during the late 90s. Bitten by the 2k bug, he did what a whole bunch of young programmers did: coding! It happened just then, he decided to give it all up and follow his passion.
Shanti took a break, contemplating, thinking and discovering the world of cinema and then decided to pursue further studies. He went ahead to graduate fromthe prestigious film school Film and Television Institute of India-Pune. That was the turning point in his life and he has not looked back!
Shanti has been part of various Independent Films that were showcased in many film festivals. He is actively involved in making documentary films, as that is like creating a history of social issues.
The most notable has been the 2014 Oscar shortlisted "Ballad of Rustom," produced and directed by Ajita Suchitra Veera, whose India release is awaited. Showcased at various film festivals, the film got rave reviews for its poetic narrative and visual style! It was first Indian feature film to find mention in The American Cinematographer’s Magazine and Kodak World Wide Film Magazine – the film’s visual poetry has been highly praised by non-other than famous film critic and filmmaker Khaled Mohammad and NDTV film Critic Saibal Chatterjjee on various forums as they termed is Elegiac.
Shanti’s first venture into mainstream cinema is with the recently released"Wedding Anniversary".
He has been part of this industry for a decade now and has shot over 10 Fiction and 10 Non-Fiction Feature Films, several TV series and TVCs, Documentaries and Corporate Films for prominent Indian Directors, Celebrities and major International TV channels like DISCOVERY, NHK, FOX and corporate clients like TATA, WIPRO, VOLTAS, INTEL, LIVER on various Film Formats and Digital Cine cameras.
He has also been part of the much-acclaimed Satyamev Jayate TV series from 2011-2014, hosted by none other than Amir Khan. The series caught a lot of attention not just in India and has been covered by The Times Magazine and all major newspapers and channels around the world.
Also has also worked onAnil Kapoor starrer series 24 Season 2 as Second unit Director of photography.
Shanti Bhushan Roy is very excited to work with new film makers as well as established filmmakers with mainstream producers who are making wonderful films like Sultan, Raees ,Dangal, Rangoon along with Jhony LLB 2 with mega stars.
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