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Lighting Up the Agra Fort Was a Big Challenge for Me

What was your reaction when Ashutosh Gowariker approached you for Jodhaa Akbar?

The whole genre and period of this film with Ashutosh as the director and the entire team which will be involved in working on this film and Ashutosh calling you to work on this project is an opportunity in itself. So it starts with Ashutosh himself. He is a very good friend and a fine filmmaker. And this kind of movie has a potential of lot of good visuals because of the nature of the story and the scope of the film. So all these things put together I thought this was the right time for me to get back into feature films again.

Since this was an epic film, how much work and preparation that you had to put in.

Everyone of us has worked a lot. Ashutosh called me right from the preliminary location scouting along with Nitin Desai and visual effect team. We had started doing the scouting of the location after hearing the script. I also had to do a lot of research on my own while Ashutosh had already done a lot of research on his own as he was writing the script also. He gave me a lot of material in terms of CDs and visuals. I also saw a lot of movies and also the paintings depicting the era. I also read some books and novels on Akbar, especially from his age 13 onwards to know what he was all about. It took me a lot of reading and observing from movies, but because the film is basically happening in Rajputana and Agra at that time, the visual palette would be controlled by what was happening in Rajputana and Agra. Hence it was very interesting and important to see the history of India at that point in time and how to portray it on screen. So if you go step by step, it was watching Indian and International movies and historical movies like Gladiator, Troy, Mughal-e-Azam and probably older movies but we had a palette which was much different from any western movies.

Do we see instances of Troy and Gladiator?

I saw these movies just to prepare myself to shoot historicals. I don't think I borrowed much from there because the palette is totally different. A film like Gladiator which is based in Europe, the light is very different while for Jodhaa Akbar, we were shooting in Rajasthan and we were shooting in winter where the light stays for a very short time of the day. If you see Rajasthan as a landscape and the colors which are there because it is barren, hence the colors you see are very vivid like saffron, yellows, reds as compared to any western canvas where pastels and softer colors are used.

What was your biggest challenge?

I think there were a couple of big challenges and the whole film is a big challenge in itself. The night sequences on the Agra fort were a challenge. After exploring the location Ashutosh, Nitin Desai and myself squared down on the idea that we would have to build a set of the Agra fort. Once the set was done, day shooting was not such a difficult thing for me but when I started getting into night scenes, it became difficult. It was a huge set so when I started lighting it up for the next night, I realized that it is a big challenge. A set like this on that scale, especially when we are shooting with Super 35, I had to keep in mind that is going to blow-up and I had to light up for a very higher aperture and hence much more lights were required than normal… and this became a big challenge for me.

Most of the sets where created at N D Studios. How was it to shoot there?

This is a period film and at that point in time, there were no electrical poles, no electricity so obviously it should not been seen in the frame. Now N D Studios being located in a place of no-man's-land, so we had no problem in framing any shot, so that was a big advantage. Additionally it is far away from Mumbai city, so there is less pollution and the sky is also clearer and also the distant objects were seen clearly.

Are you happy after seeing the film visually and what are your expectations?

What ever I have seen, I am excited. What I had thought as a visual palette is there on celluloid.

How was your experience working with Ashutosh and did you get your creative freedom?

I think Ashutosh as a director is very flexible though he has his mind's eye as a director and my job is to put that on screen. On location and such a big schedule and huge production sometimes, there were times when I had to just take a call right there, which was not pre-decided. So it is obviously backed by creative and aesthetic instinct and also, I had the freedom to do what I would do photographically to the film. I think he is one of the best directors I have worked with.