Ravi K. Chandran is an Indian

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

and

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

who predominantly works in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

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 ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

and

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

-language cinema. His career began in 1991 with the Malayalam film Kilukkampetti. He is the founding member of the

Indian Society of Cinematographers Indian cinematographers work in a number of regional film centres: Mumbai for films in Marathi and Hindi, Hyderabad for Telugu films, Chennai for Tamil films, Kochi for films in Malayalam, Kolkata for Bengali films, Bangalore for Kannada films ...

(ISC) and has won two

Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Indian cinema.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were introduced by Filmfare magazine of The Times G ...

and one Southern Filmfare Award.

Early life

Ravi was born as the 7th child in a Malayali family to Kunjan Pillai and Padmini Amma and was brought up in

Maduranthakam Madurantakam () is the southernmost suburb of Chennai city and a municipality in Chengalpattu district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The town is known for the artificial and second largest lake in Tamil Nadu, the Madurantakam lake. It is ...

. His eldest brother, cinematographer

Ramachandra Babu K. Ramachandra Babu (15 December 1947 – 21 December 2019) was an Indian cinematographer of over 125 films, out of which most are Malayalam films. He also worked for films in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Arabic and English languages. He served as ...

, who went to the Pune Film Institute in the seventies was the major influence and inspiration for Ravi. Growing up in the 70s, amidst the new wave of French cinema, names like Truffaut and Gordard became familiar to Ravi when he was very young. Latter part time closet painter, Ravi joined his brother as an assistant cinematographer, learning the technical aspects of the job.

Career

In 1984, Ravi started his career working in Malayalam films as an assistant to his brother and cinematographer,

, and later with his friend,

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 Tamil drama ''Bombay' ...

. He got his first break as a cinematographer in the Malayalam film '' Kilukkampetti'' and worked his way up until he shot the legendary '' Virasat'' (1997), which won many awards for Ravi. Since then there has been no looking back. He is a pioneer in using new equipment and cameras in the Indian film industry like the akila crane, kino flo lights, mole beams, hawk lenses, sky panels, celeb lights, and space lights. His work in ''

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

'' (2005) was featured in an American cinematographer's magazine. Kodak international cinematographer calendar, and the cover of the ALEXA camera brochure. His best-known works are ''Virasat'', ''

Dil Chahta Hai ''Dil Chahta Hai'' () is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Farhan Akhtar in his directorial debut, and produced by Ritesh Sidhwani under the newly formed Excel Entertainment banner. The fil ...

'' (2001), ''

Kannathil Muthamittal ''Kannathil Muthamittal'' (also released internationally as ''A Peck on the Cheek'') is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language musical war film written, produced and directed by Mani Ratnam. It was based on a short story, "Amuthavum Avanum" by Sujatha. T ...

'' (2002), ''

Kannezhuthi Pottum Thottu ''Kannezhuthi Pottum Thottu'' () is a 1999 Indian Malayalam-language drama film written and directed by T. K. Rajeev Kumar. It stars Manju Warrier, Thilakan, Biju Menon, Abbas, and Kalabhavan Mani. The film features songs composed by M. G. ...

'', ''Black'', '' Fanaa'' (2006), and ''

Saawariya ''Saawariya'' () is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language musical romance film directed and produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's 1848 short story ''White Nights''. The film marked the debuts of Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kap ...

'' (2007). Ravi is also an ambassador for the

Canon Cinema EOS The Canon Inc., Canon Cinema EOS (Cinema Electro-Optical System) autofocus Digital data, digital photographic and cinematographic single-lens reflex camera, SLR and mirrorless interchangeable lens camera system was introduced in late 2011 with ...

. Ravi's first Telugu film was with the

Mahesh Babu Ghattamaneni Mahesh Babu (born 9 August 1975) is an Indian actor who works in Telugu cinema. He is one of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinema and has featured in ''Forbes India''s Celebrity 100 list since 2012. He has appeared in more tha ...

starrer ''

Bharat Ane Nenu ''Bharat Ane Nenu'' () is a 2018 Indian Telugu-language political action drama film written and directed by Koratala Siva, while D. V. V. Danayya produced it. The film stars Mahesh Babu in the titlular role, with an ensemble cast of Kiara Adv ...

''. He later worked on ''

Bheemla Nayak ''Bheemla Nayak'' is a 2022 Indian Telugu-language action thriller film directed by Saagar K Chandra from a screenplay by Trivikram Srinivas. Produced by S. Naga Vamsi, the film stars Pawan Kalyan and Rana Daggubati in lead roles. It is an of ...

.'' He has collaborated with director

Mani Ratnam Gopalaratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, film producer and screenwriter who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and a few Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. H ...

for the films like ''Kannathil Muthamittal'', ''

Aayutha Ezhuthu ''Aayutha Ezhuthu'' () is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language political action film directed by Mani Ratnam. The film, loosely based on the life of George Reddy, a scholar from Osmania University of Hyderabad, stars Suriya, R. Madhavan, Siddharth, ...

'' / ''

Yuva ''Yuva'' ( Youth) is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language political drama film written, produced, and directed by Mani Ratnam''.'' It stars Ajay Devgn, Abhishek Bachchan, Vivek Oberoi, Rani Mukerji, Kareena Kapoor and Esha Deol. It was simulta ...

'' (2004), and '' Thug Life'' (2025).

Directorial debut

Ravi's directorial debut was the 2014 Tamil film ''Yaan''.

Personal life

Ravi is the younger brother of K. Ramachandra Babu, who himself is a noted cinematographer. He is married to Hemalata and currently resides in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

with his two sons. One of his sons, Santhana Krishnan, also followed his father's footsteps as a cinematographer.

Filmography

As cinematographer

As director

Awards and nominations

;

Filmfare Awards South The Filmfare Awards South are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, Malayalam cinema and Kannada cinema. They are presented by ''Filmfare'' magazine of The Times Group. When it was intr ...

* 1998: Best Cinematographer - '' Virasat'' * 2002: Best Cinematographer – Tamil - ''

'' * 2006: Best Cinematographer - ''

'' ;

Star Screen Awards The Screen Awards was an annual awards ceremony held in India, honouring professional excellence in Bollywood. The nomination and award selection was done by a panel of distinguished professionals from the industry. The awards were introduced ...

* 2002: Nominated, Star Screen Award for Best Cinematography - ''

'' ;

Zee Cine Awards The Zee Cine Award (ZCA) is an annual Indian awards ceremony for the Hindi film industry. They were instituted in November 1997 to award "Excellence in cinema – the democratic way". They were first held in Mumbai until 2004, when the ZCA w ...

* 2004: Nominated,

Zee Cine Award for Best Cinematography The Zee Cine Award Best Cinematography is a technical award. The winners are listed below:- See also * Zee Cine Awards * Bollywood * Cinema of India References {{Reflist External links Winners of the 2008 Zee Cine Awards Cinematography ...

- ''

'' * 2004: Nominated, Best Cinematography - ''

Calcutta Mail ''Calcutta Mail'' is a 2003 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Sudhir Mishra, starring Anil Kapoor, Rani Mukerji and Manisha Koirala. The film is a remake of the 1998 Telugu film ''Choodalani Vundi''. Plot Avinash comes t ...

'' ;

Vijay Awards The Vijay Awards are presented by the Tamil television channel STAR Vijay to honour excellence in Tamil cinema. It has been given annually since 2006, with the latest—the 10th edition—of the award-giving ceremony having been held i ...

* 2011: Nominated, Vijay Award for Best Cinematography - ''

7 Aum Arivu ''7 Aum Arivu'' ( ) is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language science fiction action film written and directed by AR Murugadoss and produced by Udhayanidhi Stalin under Red Giant Movies. The film Suriya in dual roles, along with Shruti Haasan (in her Tam ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chandran, Ravi K. Living people Cinematographers from Kanchipuram district Tamil cinematographers Malayalam film cinematographers Filmfare Awards South winners 20th-century Indian photographers 21st-century Indian photographers Telugu film cinematographers Cinematographers from Tamil Nadu 1973 births