Chandru Selvaraj is an Indian cinematographer who works in the

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

film industry. He has received two Kerala State Film Awards for Best Cinematography for his acclaimed work in ''Kayattam'' (2020) and '' Vazhakku'' (2022).

Early life

Chandru was born in

Ooty Ooty (; officially Udagamandalam (), Anglicisation, anglicized: Ootacamund , abbreviated as Udagai, ) is a town and municipality in the Nilgiris district of the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is located north ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

. His father's job required frequent transfers, which eventually led his family to settle in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

. Initially, Chandru pursued a career in engineering because of the suggestions from his family. However, he made the bold decision to take up filmmaking despite initial objections from his family.

Career

He started his career by assisting cinematographer

Tirru S. Thirunavukarasu (born 21 July 1966), better known mononymously as Tirru, is an Indian cinematographer and screenwriter who has worked in multiple languages across India. Born in Mullukuruchi village, Tirru became interested in photography ...

. He has assisted on seven films in a span of four years, during which he was introduced to

Sanal Kumar Sasidharan Sanal Kumar Sasidharan (born 8 April 1977) is an Indian poet, lawyer, and film director, filmmaker. Personal life Sanal Kumar Sasidharan was born in Perumkadavila village, Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala on 8 April 1977. He graduated in Z ...

by an associate of

Karthik Subbaraj Karthik Subbaraj (born 19 March 1983) is an Indian film director, film producer and screenwriter working mainly in Tamil cinema. Early life Karthik did his schooling in SBOA Matriculation and Higher Secondary School, Madurai after which he w ...

while they were working on ''Petta'' (2019). In 2021, Chandru won the

Kerala State Film Award for Best Cinematography The Kerala State Film Award The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a cinema of kerala, motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the Department of Cultural Affairs (Kerala), Department of Cultural Affairs ...

for his work in '' Kayattam'' (2020), which was his feature debut film. The film was entirely shot on an

iPhone XS Max The iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max are smartphones designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. Released as the twelfth-generation flagship models of the iPhone, they succeeded the iPhone X and were unveiled alongside the more affordable iPhon ...

in the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

. In 2022, he worked on '' Mahaveeryar'', directed by

Abrid Shine Abrid Shine is an Indian film director, screenwriter and fashion photographer in the Malayalam film industry. He made his directorial debut in 2014 with the film ''1983'', which won him the prestigious Kerala State Film Award for Best Debut Di ...

and starring Asif Ali and

Nivin Pauly Nivin Pauly (born 11 October 1984) is an Indian actor and producer who works predominantly in Malayalam films. He is the recipient of two Kerala State Film Awards, three Filmfare Awards South, two Kerala Film Critics Association Awards, and ...

in the lead roles. He won the

, again, for his acclaimed work in the film. His collaboration with

on ''Kayattam'' was a significant turning point in his career as he got to work with him again in 2022, in '' Vazhakku''.

Filmography

As cinematographer

:*''All films in

unless otherwise noted''

Awards

* 51st Kerala State Film Award for Best Cinematography - ''Kayattam'' (2020) * 53rd Kerala State Film Award for Best Cinematography - Vazhakku

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Selvaraj, Chandru Living people Malayalam film cinematographers Cinematographers from Tamil Nadu 21st-century Indian photographers Indian Tamil people Year of birth missing (living people)