The making of the film within the film in Kaantha, produced by Dulquer Salmaan and Rana Daggubati, is a story in itself. The cameras and lights seen on the film set of the 1950s pertain to the era, sourced and restored to appear new, as they would have been in their prime. Cinematographer Dani Sanchez Lopez reveals that Rana’s father, producer Sureshbabu who spearheads Ramanaidu Studios, contacted several studios and older theatres across India to source the equipment.
“He was particular that we got what was relevant to the period. The lights were painted, restored and we used them to light up the scenes for the film within the film,” says Dani, speaking from his home in Madrid, Spain, after wrapping up a romantic thriller shot in Canary Islands. Dani is now writing a script that he hopes to direct soon.
Kaantha was pitched to Dani in July 2023 and he was aware that it would draw comparisons with his work in Mahanati, as both films take the audiences into film studios of the past.
Dani Sanchez Lopez
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
The primary difference between Mahanati, a biopic of late actorSavitri, and Kaantha, a fictional tale of ego clashes between a superstar (Dulquer as TK Mahalingam) and his mentor (Samuthirakani as ayya), lies “in perspectivism,” Dani explains. “In Mahanati, the films of the past emerged from retracing memories of Savitri garu. Here, the perspective changes as we understand the story through its characters. How do we decide who is the protagonist?”
When Dani read the initial script by director Selvamani Selvaraj, he remembers asking, “Is Rana playing ayya? Isn’t he too young?” He was drawn into the ego clashes and keen to see where it is headed. “Much later I learnt about Phoenix — Rana’s character.”
While Dani used colour and black and white to differentiate time periods in Mahanati as well, he approached Kaantha like “a puzzle that needed to be solved.”
An initial idea was to shoot Kaantha entirely in black and white. Later, Dani and Selva decided to use colour and black and white. “We decided to use them in different ways. For example, Kumari (Bhagyashri Borse) is at first tuned to the words of her mentor and later she sees the perspective of TKM. Selva wanted that shift to be portrayed with tenderness, which we achieved in colour with a softer focus for present-day portions.”
Four sections
The visual design and storyboarding followed a long phase of discussions. “Selva wanted Kaantha to be realistic. We divided the film into four sections and decided to use colour for the present — the 1950s, black and white for the film within the film, another kind of black and white for the flashbacks from the 1940s, and a different palette for the recaps during the crime investigation in the later portions.”
There was a challenge. Dani points out, “There’s one major difference between cinema in India and elsewhere. I prefer reading scripts to narrations; the latter is common in India, while scripts keep evolving.” However, with a visual structure in place, the cinematography, direction, costume, and production design departments got to work.
Surreal b&w for the flashback; starker b&w for the present
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
For the portions filmed in colour, a vintage palette was chosen, with references coming from paintings of Raja Vavi Varma, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and others from the pre-Raphaelite era. References also came from Pedro Almodóvar’s Spanish film, Broken Embraces.
For the film within the film, Dani chose black and white with a 4:3 aspect ratio. “Among the older lights and cameras, we even had equipment used for Maya Bazar. The placement of lights were all according to the film being shot within the film. We used the dollies to recreate the 1950s approach to cinema. We lit up the film within the film using the older lights, which were much warmer than the present-day lights. We had to move those lights closer to Dulquer to get the skin tone of that era on screen, and over-expose by two or three stops. Back in time, film sets used to be warmer due to those lights.”
Dani adds that in the 1950s, Kodak’s new black and white Tri-X motion picture stocks were available in the US. “For the film within the film, we imagined that ayya would have asked Martin (the producer, played by Ravindra Vijay) to make sure it was available for the film.” Further, the team tried to achieve a similar look of the cinematography of the era with characteristics of Tri-X.
To plan the palette for the colour and the black-and-white portions (to get the required contrast and brightness), Dani contacted colorist Glen Castinho who had previously worked with him for Virata Parvam and a Spanish film. Glen contacted people he knew from Kodak to replicate the look of images captured using that Tri-X stock. “Hundreds of scans from different movies were procured and from the data, we worked out a look for Kaantha’s film within the film.”
Capturing a dream
As for the flashbacks of the 1940s, the black-and-white tones were different. “We kept the 2.39:1 aspect ratio (cinemascope), and filmed the flashbacks as we would capture dreams, if we could.” The inspiration for a dreamy visual texture came from surrealism in cinema in the early 20th century.
Dani Sanchez Lopez with Nishanth Katari, credited with additional cinematography
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
For the investigative thriller portions, perspectivism and the Rashomon-effect came into play. “We also took inspiration from Hitchcock’s works to design the mood. Some of the lighting is abstract since it involves different people narrating incidents from their observations and memory.”
The focus, Dani says, is sharper when Phoenix is in the frame and the camera movements reflect his point of view. “We also looked at how each character would narrate incidents. For example, Babu (the assistant director) would swiftly move from one detail to another, while the makeup man would observe closer details. Perspectives also come from showing characters talking to each other or observing the happenings through a door.” Dani adds that Citizen Kane and S Balachander’s Tamil film, Andha Naal, were also references for the play of light and shadow.
The investigation part factored in how a film set would be lit up only when a film is being shot. Darkness and bluish tones pervade some portions, as light streams in from the exteriors, and is kept minimal.
Beyond the drama of colours or black and white, Dani reveals that planning was involved in placing mirrors at strategic points and planning the point-of-view shots to show how Dulquer, Samuthirakani, and Bhagyashri’s characters are projected. “It’s a movie about ego, acting, smoking mirrors, hiding your true self, and finding your identity. We paid attention to how we used mirrors for conversations — be it on the film set when the journalist comes in, or the makeup room.”
Kaantha piqued curiosity within the film fraternity when it was being filmed. Dani recalls being shocked to learn that Sanjay Leela Bhansali appreciated some of the initial visuals. “He is one of the most visual filmmakers in the world. I love the imagery in his films, they stay with you for the rest of your life.”
He has also had warm feedback from cinematographers Ravi K Chandran, Ravi Varman, and others. What surprised Dani the most is members of audiences writing to him, wanting to know how he filmed certain scenes, and discussion posts on Reddit. “It’s fascinating that they take time to discuss, or to write to me. Soon, I will respond to their queries.”
