R.D. Rajasekhar is an Indian

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the c ...

who predominantly works in films of Indian languages such as Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi. He is a recipient of the

Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Cinematographer The Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Cinematographer is given by the state government as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil ( Kollywood) films. The list See also * Tamil cinema * Cinema of India The Cinema ...

.And film fare Award and SICA award also. He is the member of the Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC).

Film career

Early career

After graduating, Rajasekhar found work as a cameraman, assisting to

Rajiv menon Rajiv Menon (born 20 April 1963) is an Indian filmmaker who has worked as a director and cinematographer in several Indian regional film industries. After making his breakthrough as a film cinematographer with Mani Ratnam's drama ''Bombay'' (199 ...

for about nine years in many advertisement films.

Feature film

Rajasekhar's first dramatic Indian Tamil-language romance film titled

Minnale ''Minnale'' () is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language romance film directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. The story was written by Menon and Vipul D. Shah, starring Madhavan, Abbas, Reema Sen (in her Tamil debut), Vivek and Nagesh. The film tells the ...

. The camerawork of the advertisement films impressed his former colleague and frequent collaborator

Gautham Vasudev Menon Gautham Vasudev Menon (born 25 February 1973) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor who predominantly works in Tamil film industry. He has also directed Telugu and Hindi films that either simultaneously shot with or rema ...

. The film was well received, and popular among youth; subsequently, Rajasekhar and

Gautham vasudev menon Gautham Vasudev Menon (born 25 February 1973) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor who predominantly works in Tamil film industry. He has also directed Telugu and Hindi films that either simultaneously shot with or rema ...

teamed up again on Kaakha Kaakha (2003). The film was praised for its unique style of visuals and scenic views through his lens, which rajasekhar achieved through a process known as

Bleach bypass Bleach bypass, also known as skip bleach or silver retention, is a chemical effect which entails either the partial or complete skipping of the bleaching function during the processing of a color film. By doing this, the silver is retained in t ...

, where the silver is retained in the print, creating a washed-outlook that reflected in films. Rajasekhar continues serving as cinematographer for films including

Red (2002 film) ''Red'' is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Singampuli (under the name Ram Sathya) and produced by S S Chakravarthy. The film stars Ajith Kumar and Priya Gill, while Manivannan, Salim Ghouse and Raghuvaran played pivotal r ...

Kaakha Kaakha ''Kaakha Kaakha'' (), titled ''The Police'' in the UK, is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. It stars Suriya and Jyothika, with Jeevan playing the antagonist. The film featured m ...

Manmadhan (film) ''Manmadhan'' () (spelt onscreen as ''Maanmathaun'') is 2004 Indian Tamil-language romantic thriller film directed and written by A. J. Murugan with dialogues by Balakumaran. Silambarasan played dual roles for the first time in his career whil ...

. In 2005, Rajasekhar begin his long-term collaboration with the director

AR Murugadoss Murugadoss Arunasalam (born 25 September 1974), commonly known as A. R. Murugadoss, is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who predominantly works in the Tamil film industry. He is best known for directing action films mainly on ...

, starting with the

Ghajini (2005 film) ''Ghajini'' is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by A. R. Murugadoss and produced by Salem Chandrasekharan. The film stars Suriya and Asin in the lead, with Nayanthara, Pradeep Rawat and Riyaz Khan in supporting rol ...

, earned him many recognitions and awards for the cinematography throughout Indian cinema. Director AR Murugadoss had been impressed with rajasekhar. For this murugadoss film Ghajini, Rajasekhar spent some two month fine tuning the look, autumnal yellow and desaturating the overall image. The film won Best

Cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the c ...

award from

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence in Tamil cinema in India. They were given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to the South Indian film industry by the Government of Tamil Nadu. Th ...

in 2005 and nominated for Best

Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassin ...

. His Malayalam debut film was

4 the People ''4 the People'' is a 2004 Indian Malayalam-language vigilante thriller film directed by Jayaraj and written by Iqbal Kuttippuram from a story by Jayaraj. It stars Arun Cherukavil, Bharath, Arjun Bose, and Padma Kumar in the title roles, alon ...

in 2004 and also in same year he made his debut in Telugu film Industry filmed called

Gharshana ''Gharshana'' () is a 2004 Indian Telugu-language action thriller film produced by G. Sivaraju, C. Venkatraju, and Kalaipuli S. Thanu. It is directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, in his Telugu debut. It is the remake of the 2003 Tamil blockbus ...

. Again he reunited with director

on the 2016 Hindi debut film

Akira (2016 Hindi film) ''Akira'' is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language action crime thriller film co-written, produced and directed by A. R. Murugadoss. It is a remake of the 2011 Tamil-language film '' Mouna Guru'', and features Sonakshi Sinha, Konkana Sen Sharma and Anu ...

, having previously worked on

Awards and recognitions

He had been nominated for

for Best

in 2004, winning the Best Cinematographer on his first

in 2003 for

. He also received award from prestigious

for film

. He shot

Imaikkaa Nodigal ''Imaikkaa Nodigal'' () is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by R. Ajay Gnanamuthu. It stars Nayanthara with Atharvaa, Raashii Khanna marking the latter's debut in Tamil cinema, Vijay Sethupathi, Manas ...

(2018) won Best Cinematographer in SIIMA Award for Best Cinematographer - Tamil in the same year after the release.

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajasekhar, R D Tamil film cinematographers Living people Malayalam film cinematographers Filmfare Awards South winners M.G.R. Government Film and Television Training Institute alumni 21st-century Indian photographers Telugu film cinematographers People from Mayiladuthurai district Cinematographers from Tamil Nadu Year of birth missing (living people)