The world through his lens

Sharp eye

It was while in class ten that the fire to make movies ignited in Pravan Panduranga, a final-year BA student of The Oxford College of Arts.

    After training with a film academy for almost two years, he went on to make a documentary during his PUC days. Since then, there was no looking back for this youngster.

“I took up the digital filmmaking course at Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics, and learnt the process of filmmaking there. That is when I realised that making a film is an ‘trial and error’ process,” says Pravan.

    Ask him what inspired him to take up filmmaking and he recollects, “I wanted to take up psychology and dig deep into the logistics of the human mind. As I grew up, I started watching more and more movies and I thought of trying it. I started my journey with the documentary ‘Igniting Aspirations’ in 2012.”

Having received a pan-India recognition for this project from the film academy, Pravan was filled with creative energy.

 “For any filmmaker, something must hurt you or excite you to explore the subject. Each topic must make one think.”

 Pravan’s other project, included ‘Identity’, of which he was the director and cinematographer. He also directed a public social awareness video called ‘I Quit’.” “The film ‘Identity’ was based on the caste system. I wanted people to see how there shouldn’t be any discrimination, especially in today’s society.”

His movie ‘I Quit’ voiced the stories of family members of chain-smokers and how they are affected. “Having many friends who smoked, I wanted a social message to be communicated through the film.”

Pravan has not only experimented with well-known social subjects, but also worked on a fantasy theme.

“I did an interesting film on how youngsters are plugged to their cellphones and its adverse effects. The film was called ‘Amy 347’ and narrated the story of a youngster, who imagines his cellphone to be his girlfriend,” he says.

He has a regular crew under the name ‘Phoenicorn Entertainment’, which he works with for his projects.

“My crew here comprises  of Divya Mahadevan, Raghavendra V Iliger, Gaurav Sinha, Prajwala Mohan Gowda, Imanuel Smith and me.” Pravan has also worked with a Chennai filmmaking unit, ‘Screenem Inde Production’, on a few projects.

 “I worked on two projects with them, one as an assistant filmmaker for a pilot film ‘Amardasa’ and the other as a cinematographer for ‘Theera Ulaa’.”

Having explored the role of a director and a cinematographer, he says that the director “is the one who visualises the whole concept and imagines what can come out of a script”.

He adds that he is passionate about both the roles.    “A cinematographer should not just work according to the director but should also fulfil his passion and add his style to each shot. Else, he will just be a operational cameraman. That is how artistes like PC Sreeram and Santosh Sivan stand out.”

With every movie he makes, he makes mistakes which trigger him to keep going on.
 “Until I make a perfect film, the search will go on. I will keep making movies till I satiate my thirst.”