Tamil cinematographer and film director K V Anand passes away

Apart from beautifully capturing Fort Kochi, the film's backdrop, Anand's brilliance is seen in the film's hit songs

As the Tamil film industry was recovering from the loss of popular comedian Vivekh, it received another jolt with the passing away of K V Anand. The seasoned cinematographer-director died of heart attack on Friday. He was 54.

The who's who of the industry woke up to the shocking news and mourned the death of Anand, who was an ace cameraman in the 2000s.

Anand, who assisted the legendary P C Sreeram in the Kamal Haasan-starrer Thevar Magan (1992) and Mani Ratnam's Thiruda Thiruda (1993), broke through with the Malayalam blockbuster Thenmavin Kombath (1994), directed by Pridyadarshan.

K V Anand with Mohanlal and Suriya, during the shoot of Kaappan, his last feature film as a director. Credit: Twitter Photo/@anavenkat

Apart from beautifully capturing Pollachi, the film's backdrop, Anand's brilliance is seen in the film's hit songs. He deservingly won the National Award for the film.

Anand's second flick was Minnaram (1994), another cult film from Priyadarshan. Anand's visuals of the Fernhills Royal Palace and Nilgiri Hills in Ooty were perfect for the film's emotional tone, especially in the second half.

Having made a mark in his first two films, Anand's career moved to the next level when he was associated with Tamil blockbuster filmmaker S Shankar in Boys (2003), Mudhalvan (1999) and Shivaji (2007).

By then, Shankar's penchant for grandness was evident in Indian and Jeans. His subsequent films too remained visual spectacles. Be it filming the ambitious fight sequences, the jaw-dropping sets and creatively choreographed songs, Anand's talent shone through.

His popular Hindi projects were Josh (2000), Nayak (2001), Legend Of Bhagat Singh (2002) and Khakhee (2004).

After venturing into direction, he gave three straight hits in Kana Kandaen, Ayan and Ko. Anand had a liking for action-thrillers which was evident in Ayan and Ko. Despite the logical loopholes, the breezy screenplays and Harris Jayaraj terrific numbers made the films entertaining affairs.

Anand continued to make films with socially conscious themes but they turned out to be disappointing. Maattraan (2012), Anegan (2015), Kavan (2017) and Kaappan (2019) were well-mounted and headlined by ensemble cast but they failed to connect with the audience. The convoluted and over-ambitious nature of the plots has to be blamed for the films' subpar quality.

Anand, who gave edge-of-the-seat entertainers initially as a director, will be remembered more for his cinematography. Behind the camera, he was a man with the Midas touch.