Born and brought up in Janawara hamlet of north Kashmir’s Sopore, Tanveer Mir, a young cinematographer from kashmir, has beheld the tenacity to establish himself as critically acclaimed and award winning cinematographer in both the dreamworld of bollywood and south film industry.
Cinematography is considered one of the most challenging fields of film-making. A Cinematographer makes any movie look good or bad. It is not just the art of holding cameras,Understanding cinematography goes way beyond its definition .However, hovering over his passion Tanveer has overcome all the hurdles and established himself as a well accomplished cinematographer in the entertainment industry.
Coming from a non-filmy background and walking down to creating an individual identity in an industry of dreams is not everyone’s cup of tea, nor is it a cakewalk . Despite all odds Tanveer Mir could not stay off the magic of lenses and went to pursue his course in cinematography at FTTI Chennai.
Tanveer’s work includes giving life to ideas through imagery called cinematography.
Tanveer not only redefines the Art and Craft of cinematography with his amazing skills but plays well with the shots he creates to form a cohesive narrative.
Equipped with cinematographic skills, Tanveer has given visualisation to some of the bollywood’s critically acclaimed and blockbuster movies , like Pad Man, Psycho, Shamitabh, Ki and Ka , I, Ishq, O Kanmani, and many more falling under his belt
Recently Tanveer was conferred upon Ananda Vikatan Award, for movie Psycho, It is one of the most prestigious cinematography awards in south cinema. The award winning cinematographer has worked with all bollywood biggies who include Amitabh Bachhan, kareena Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Sonam kapoor, lkara Dutta, apart from sharing a great bond of work with south superstars like Allu Arjun, Ammy jackson etc. Tanvir has worked with renowned bollywood directors and producers such as Mani Ratnam, PC Sriram, Allu Arvind etc.
Pad Man (2018), I (2015), and Psycho are among Tanveer Mir’s best-known works (2020). Eat, Pray, Love, India Schedule, Guzaarish (Hindi), Yuthamsai (Tamil), Shudra (Hindi), Ishq (Telugu), Shanker’s “I” (Tamil), Amitabh, and Ok Kanmani, Psycho, Urvasivo Rakshasivo, ‘Mr. Zoo Keeper, are some of the films he has been in.
While sharing his experience in the Bollywood and Tamil industry, He talks about how it is to work with iconic writers, directors and actors of Bollywood industry.
Tell us about your study background and how did you land in cinematography
I did my graduation in Mass media from Baramulla boys college. In our course we had one subject, ‘Five Cs of cinematography’ and that is how my tryst with cinematography began. We used to operate cameras and cover all the events held at college or the visit of high profile guests and dignitaries in college.
We used to run around to cover all such events, college functions and all. Having said that, I used to enjoy being behind the camera. Those days we would shoot with Sony cameras. It was a nice experience and this is how my journey with camera started . I was certain that I have to go for cinematography. Ultimately I went and did a course in cinematography at FTII Chennai.
Why did you choose an offbeat and unconventional career such as cinematography?
Post college lots of things came to mind. It was a Dilemma of what to do, where to go.
I took a step and chose cinematography, my family was like what is it, they couldn’t even pronounce it properly for a long time . However I am highly grateful to my family for their immense support.
When I went to Chennai I felt a vibe within when I landed in Prasad studios I saw people were shooting there. It was like all song and dance for me . I could feel that I want to do this,
After finishing my course, my diploma film was selected in Camer image film festival Poland for best cinematography. That is one of the biggest festivals , it was selected in the category of short films at that time.
When and how did you get your first break in film industry
After the completion of my course I came to Mumbai. It was back in 2011 when the crew of Hollywood movie “ Eat , Pray and Love” had visited Mumbai. The renowned cinematographer and three time Oscar winner, Robert Richardson was there too and I got so lucky to work on that film starring the legendary actor Julia Roberts. That was my first project after finishing college. I was working as an intern in that movie in the cinematographic department.
After that I got a chance to join my mentor, one of the biggest names in cinematography in India, PC Sri Ram sir.. I worked with him for almost five to six years and got trained under him.
What skills are needed for a cinematographer?
Basic knowledge is very important for a cinematographer, if anyone wants to become a cinematographer, you need to study cinematography because its not just the knowledge of shutter, lens, ISO which doesn’t make you a cinematographer. There is a film appreciation course also that can be pursued.
It is very important to get trained under someone, because filmmaking is not as easy as it seems on screen.. Nowadays people think they can just take a camera and become film makers, or cinematographers. When you are on a film set things are different. For a cinematographer it is like you are telling a story through lights, through colors, through a movement. It is an absolute art form where you are being a co author to a director, his vision. So when a director has something in his mind, you are responsible for bringing that in front of audiences. That is how you capture it in images. A director will look into emotions , those emotions get evoked through lighting, through color, through movement .
Tell us about the ‘ Psycho’ since it has received an overwhelming response for its cinematography
In ‘Psycho’ there is a lot of darkness in the visuals. I have played with light in the entire movie to bring that natural and captivating impact. The lighting used was made a tool in the film to evoke an emotion. Because you are not there to create beautiful images. you are there to tell a story, so that the story does not deviate from the director’s vision. You have to do justice to his vision, justice to the script. In psycho it was more of shadows, silhouettes, that was the kind of the thing I could not deviate from. It was easy to deviate. I could have done soft lighting but may be people would have missed the thrill that unfolded in the movie.
Share your experience of working with the legendary actor Amitabh Bacchhan
My first film with Amit Jee was Shamitabh, In Shamitabh I worked as associate cinematographer.
After that there was an ad which I had to shoot with Amitabh Bacchan Ji as a cinematographer. I had to go shoot with him at his residence. That was for the first time I shot with the legend only myself. When I got a call from my mentor that I am shooting this Ad film with the legendary actor that too on my own. I went there, it was a chroma shoot . I shot it in his lawn . He knew me because we had shot Shamitabh together where I was associate cinematographer.
I set up the lights but it was getting reflected in his glasses, I was fixing it with everything . I could not have asked him to chin up or to chin down or to remove them. But he could sense it and he was like Tanveer I know what issue you are facing, don’t worry, he just adjusted his specs positionand the issue was sorted. That is the kind of legend Amit ji is.
The Pushpa fame Allu Arjun was all praise for your cinematographic skills, how was it working with him
I did a film with All u Arjun sir and his father Allu Arvind sir, last year. I was busy shooting other projects in Europe so came back from there and did colour grading for the movie. I couldn’t attend any pre-release functions but during an event Allu sir came on stage and mentioned my work, mentioned my name and he said he liked the cinematography so much. I was really happy that he recognized it and It was a big treat .
His father Allu Arvind sir the veteran producer of films like Gajni. He called me and said he really liked the cinematography. He said that Your cinematography has elevated the film.This is what you actually strive for. These things don’t come so easily to you.
It is not that easy to hold on to the entertainment industry which is called ‘dream world’, How has the journey been so far
Journey has been really good by the grace of God, I have been busy. Every day you are on set it is a challenge, it is like mathematics, like every moment you shoot something and you are happy, at times not contended. I remember we finished an interrogation scene at a jail in Europe and we finished the scene in just 25 minutes and after coming out to see the visuals it looked great and I was more than happy. It was the happiest moment. This was an example of how you move on in the field with encouragement and enthusiasm that comes from little things on sets.
