K. V. Anand

In 2005, Anand turned director with Kana Kandaen, and prioritised direction henceforth. He was a founding member of the Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC).

• Name — K. V. Anand • Born — 30 October 1966 • Birthplace — Madras, Madras State, India • Died — 30 April 2021 • Place of death — Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India • Birth Name — Karimanal Venkatesan Anand • Education — DG Vaishnav College, Arumbakkam, Chennai • Occupation — Cinematographer, Film director, Writer, Photographer • Years Active — 19942021 • Spouse — Sasikala • Awards — National Film Award for Best Cinematography (1994)

Anand was born in Chennai, in the state of Tamil Nadu in India on 30 October 1966. His childhood days were spent in Pulicat. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Physics from DG Vaishnav College in June 1986, followed by a master's degree in Visual Communications from Loyola College, Chennai. During his college days Anand participated in annual trekking expeditions in the Himalayas. His exploratory trips to various remote locations in India triggered his passion for photography. Anand participated in inter-collegiate, state and national level photography contests. His visual images earned him numerous photography awards.

Anand worked as a freelance photo journalist for leading newspapers and magazines such as Kalki, India Today, Illustrated Weekly and Aside. Within a short period of time, his photos were published in more than 200 magazine covers and had taken photos of 10 Chief Ministers in close quarters. Anand continued to freelance in industrial photography, advertisements and cover pages for fictional Tamil novels.

Anand met cinematographer P. C. Sreeram and expressed his interest to work for him as an assistant. He joined him, serving as an apprentice for Sreeram's film such as Gopura Vasalile, Amaran, Meera, Thevar Magan and Thiruda Thiruda. He had initially joined as the sixth assistant to Sreeram when Jeeva, another prominent figure in cinematography was the first assistant to Sreeram. When director Priyadarshan had approached P. C. Sreeram to work on his Malayalam film, Thenmavin Kombath (1994), he was unavailable and thus recommended Anand to be given the opportunity. The film received positive reviews and Anand won the National Film Award for Best Cinematography for his debut venture, with the award committee noting he showed "outstanding cinematography executed with sincerity, imagination and flexibility". Anand's first Tamil film was the romantic drama Kadhal Desam (1996), which also won critical acclaim for showcasing Chennai in a futuristic mould. He also then teamed up with director Shankar for the production of the political thriller Mudhalvan (1999), winning appreciation for his experimental camera ramping and the general grandeur. Anand has wielded the camera for 14 films in languages including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi. His final work as a cinematographer came with Sivaji (2007), the Rajinikanth-starrer directed by Shankar, the most expensive Tamil film ever made at the time of release.

Anand collaborated with composer Harris Jayaraj, editor Anthony and the writer duo Subha for several of his ventures, describing them as "constant fixtures". While noting he shared a good rapport with Harris, he stated that Anthony was like his "alter ego" and "his biggest critic", with the pair often working closely during the post-production stages of films. He met the writer duo Suresh and Bala of Subha, during his stint as a photojournalist with India Today. Actor Jagan appeared in most of his films. Despite being a cinematographer himself, Anand chose not to photograph his directorial ventures and actively tried to select different cinematographers for each of his projects, although Soundararajan and Abhinandhan Ramanujam each worked with him on more than one project. During the script-writing process, Anand often finished up to six drafts, though he rarely "lock[ed]" his scripts as they were always open to changes for improvisations on the shooting spot. He often rephrased dialogues, and sometimes invented titles during the drafting process, being constantly on the lookout for short and crisp titles. His film titles were usually in chaste Tamil, such as Kana Kandaen, Ayan, Ko, Anegan and Kavan.

• Collaborator — * Kana Kandaen * (2004) — * Ayan * (2009) — * Ko * (2011) — * Maattrraan * (2012) — * Anegan * (2015) — * Kavan * (2017) — * Kaappaan * (2019) • Harris Jayaraj • Anthony • Subha • Jagan • D. R. K. Kiran • Suriya — (cameo) • Peter Hein

Anand died in Chennai in the early hours of 30 April 2021 following a cardiac arrest. At the time, he was tested positive for COVID-19.

Source(s): • Year — Film — Language — Cinematographer — Director — Actor — Role — Notes • 1992 — Meera — Tamil — Vikram's friend (uncredited) • 1994 — | Thenmavin Kombath — Malayalam — Debut film as a cinematographer National Film Award for Best Cinematography • Minnaram • 1995 — Punya Bhoomi Naa Desam — Telugu • 1996 — Kadhal Desam — Tamil • 1997 — Nerukku Ner • 1998 — Doli Saja Ke Rakhna — Hindi • 1999 — Mudhalvan — Tamil • 2000 — Josh — Hindi • 2001 — Nayak: The Real Hero — Remake of Mudhalvan • 2002 — Virumbugiren — Tamil • The Legend of Bhagat Singh — Hindi • 2003 — Boys — Tamil — 1 song only • 2004 — Khakee — Hindi • Ghilli — Tamil — 1 song only • Chellamae • 2005 — Kana Kandaen — Debut film as a director • 2007 — Sivaji: The Boss — Guest appearance — Final film as a cinematographer • 2009 — Ayan • 2011 — Ko • 2012 — Maattrraan — Guest appearance • 2015 — Anegan • 2017 — Kavan — Tea seller • 2019 — Kaappaan — Final film as a director

The following is established of the heading itself.

The following is established of origins and background.

Cinematographers, Writers, and Directors such as S. Soundararajan, Richard M. Nathan, P. Chelladurai, Vijay Ulaganath, Deekay, R. M. Muthu Ganesan had worked as assistant, associate directors and assistant cinematographers under Anand.

The scholarly and documentary record stands as follows.