Vishnu Rao () 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 ...

, best known for his work in

Feature Films A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film ( motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation ...

, Web Series,

Commercials A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

, Music Videos and underwater cinematography.

Early Life

Vishnu Rao was born and raised 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 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and was educated at St. Mary’s (ISC) school. He completed his graduation from

Elphinstone college Elphinstone College is one of the constituent colleges of Dr. Homi Bhabha State University, a state cluster university. Established in 1856, it is one of the oldest colleges in Mumbai. It played a major role in shaping and developing the edu ...

earning degrees in economics and sociology. After which he finished his post graduation from the prestigious

Film and Television Institute of India The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) is a film institute under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India and aided by the Central Government of India. ...

(FTII), Pune where he studied Motion Picture Photography.

Career

Early career After graduating from the

, his first job was as second unit cinematographer on the music video Vande Matharam (1998) directed by

Bharat Bala Bharath Bala is an Indian film director, screenwriter and film producer based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Career Bharat Bala produced the acclaimed album ''Vande Mataram (album), Vande Mataram'' and the ''Jana Gana Mana Video.'' He heads BharatBal ...

. He then worked as camera assistant on

Merchant Ivory A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

’s film, Cotton Mary (1999). He has been working as

director of photography 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 ...

since 2000. He has shot several

feature films A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film ( motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation ...

, advertising films, numerous

music videos A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

, corporate films,

documentaries A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill ...

and a few

short films A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

. Being a licensed

scuba dive Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scuba'' is an acronym for ...

r he has also shot underwater sequences for many projects as an

underwater An underwater environment is a environment of, and immersed in, liquid water in a natural or artificial feature (called a Water, body of water), such as an ocean, sea, lake, pond, reservoir, river, canal, or aquifer. Some characteristics of the ...

Feature Films

His first

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

was Bhootnath (2008), starring

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.* * * * * With a cinemati ...

, Shahruk Khan and

Juhi Chawla Juhi Chawla Mehta ( Chawla; born 13 November 1967) is an Indian actress. She established herself as one of the leading actresses of Hindi cinema from the late 1980s through the early 2000s. Recognised for her comic timing and vivacious on-screen ...

, was produced by

Ravi Chopra Ravi Chopra (27 September 1946 – 12 November 2014) was an Indian filmmaker, best known for directing the television show '' Mahabharat'' (1988–1990). Life Chopra was the son of producer and director B.R. Chopra and nephew of Yash Chopra. ...

under BR Films. Since then he has gone on to shoot several mainstream successful Hindi

. The action film Prince (2010) was produced by

Tips Industries Tips Music Industries Limited is an Indian music record label and film production, film promotion, and film distribution company in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It was founded by Kumar S. Taurani and Ramesh S. Taurani in 1975. Its distributors se ...

Aashiqui 2 ''Aashiqui 2'' () is a 2013 Indian romantic musical drama film directed by Mohit Suri and produced by Mahesh Bhatt, Mukesh Bhatt, Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar under the Vishesh Films and T-Series Films, with Mahesh Bhatt also serving a ...

(2013) with director

Mohit Suri Mohit Suri (born 11 April 1981) is an Indian film director. He directed the films '' Murder 2 '' (2011), the musical romance '' Aashiqui 2'' (2013) and the romantic thrillers '' Awarapan'' (2007), ''Ek Villain'' (2014) and ''Malang'' (2020). He ...

was a huge critical and commercial success. Vishnu Rao and

collaborated on three more films after this - Ek Villain (2014),

Hamari Adhuri Kahani ''Hamari Adhuri Kahani'' () is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language musical romantic drama film directed by Mohit Suri and produced by Mahesh Bhatt under the banners of Vishesh Films and Fox Star Studios. The film stars Emraan Hashmi, Vidya Balan an ...

(2015) and the adaptation of

Chetan Bhagat Chetan Prakash Bhagat (born April 22, 1974) is an Indian author, columnist, screenwriter, and YouTuber. He was included in ''Time (magazine), Time magazine’s'' list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2010. Several of his nove ...

’s book Half Girlfriend (2017).

Dhadak ''Dhadak'' () is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language romance film written and directed by Shashank Khaitan and jointly produced by Karan Johar, Hiroo Yash Johar and Apoorva Mehta under the Dharma Productions banner with Zee Studios as a sponsor pr ...

(2018), produced by

Dharma Productions Dharma Productions Pvt. Ltd. is an Indian film production and distribution company established by Yash Johar in 1979. It was taken over in 2004, after his death, by his son, Karan Johar. Based in Mumbai, it mainly produces and distributes H ...

, debuted Janhvi Kapoor, directed by Shashank Khaitan. Good Newwz (2019), also produced by

, starring

Akshay Kumar Akshay Hari Om Bhatia (born Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia; 9 September 1967), known professionally as Akshay Kumar (), is an Indian actor and film producer working in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as "Khiladi Kumar", through his career span ...

Kareena Kapoor Kareena Kapoor Khan (; ; born 21 September 1980) is an Indian actress. A prolific leading lady of Hindi cinema since 2000, she is noted for her roles in a range of film genres—from romantic comedies to crime dramas. Kapoor is the recipient ...

, Kiara Advani and

Diljit Dosanjh Diljit Dosanjh (born 6 January 1984) is an Indian singer, actor and film producer who works in Punjabi and Hindi cinema. Dosanjh entered the Social 50 chart by ''Billboard'' in 2020. He has been featured in various music charts, including ...

was a phenomenal commercial success. The Big Bull (2021), produced by

Ajay Devgn Vishal Veeru Devgan (born 2 April 1969), known professionally as Ajay Devgn, is an Indian actor, film director, and producer. One of the most prolific actors of Hindi cinema, Devgn has appeared in over Ajay Devgn filmography, 100 films and ha ...

FFilms was inspired by the life of

Harshad Mehta Harshad Shantilal Mehta (29 July 1954 – 31 December 2001) was an Indian stockbroker, businessman, and convicted fraudster. Mehta's involvement in the 1992 Indian securities scam (about ) led him to gain infamy for market manipulation. Of t ...

. His first foray into OTT steaming came with the web series

Sultan of Delhi The Sultan of Delhi was the absolute monarch of the Delhi Sultanate which stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent during the period of medieval era, for 320 years (1206–1526).Milan Luthria Milan Arjun Luthria is an Indian film director who works in Bollywood, Hindi films. He is best known as the director of Ajay Devgan ''Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai'' (2010). Personal life Milan is the biological son of Raj Khosla. He was born o ...

, produced by

Disney+Hotstar Disney+ Hotstar, also known as JioHotstar or simply Hotstar, is an Indian subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Disney Star. The brand was introduced as Hotstar for a streaming service carrying content from Dis ...

Filmography

References

External links

* Indian cinematographers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people {{India-film-bio-stub