Remembering Sivaraman sir

Talking about Shivaraman sir, there are lots of memories.

We'll start from the beginning when I was a student in FTII, and we were brought for a lab visit to Prasad Lab by our teacher Kanhere sir. And this is the first time when I meet Sivaraman sir and also see a working commercial lab, extremely, extremely busy in those days. And also, it was a great moment of happiness to see a man who I used to idealize,  Balu Mahendra sir wearing that signature hat in the laboratory, interacting with Sivaraman sir and waiting for his print. And you feel like you've arrived at the right place,  where cinema happens.

A little later, a few years down the line, I worked with Rajiv Menon sir, and at that time he was doing a lot of ads. And during those times, we had frequent lab visits coming over to see the prints of the ads. So, the interaction with Ponnaiah sir, Bolan sir, and Sivaraman sir became a little more frequent.

And again, jumping to a few years down the line, around 2003, I took a detour and went to teach at Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute in Kolkata. And that was a new experience for me. And I was the Head of the Department there. So three consecutive years, I used to bring students from there to Prasad Lab in Chennai because we did not have a film laboratory at SRFTI. And all the students' rushes were processed here.

And as we all know about Prasad Lab being very supportive of not only mainstream, but also all the great parallel filmmakers in our country, the same way, they were also very, very supportive to students' initiatives.

And I remember one incident on one of the trips. I had a student called Abhijit Nandi, who is unfortunately not there anymore. So, he had this strange request. He said, "Narayan da, I have kept 50 feet of each emulsion that we use as cinematographers—like the 50D, 200T, 250D, 500T, all the varied stock, Kodak and Fuji—and I want to do a sensitometric test to understand the behavior of the emulsions. Please make this happen for me when we go to Prasad Lab."

Well, I said, "Sure, we'll try."

And after reaching here, as you know, Prasad Lab being a very, very busy lab with producers and Cinematographers  waiting for the release prints, and I don't know how to place this, but I, along with the student, spoke to Shivaraman sir about this particular request of the student. And he was so kind and obliging. He said, "Okay, give us some time. We will get it done."

Imagine, you know, running 50 feet with so much leader, onto the processing path where generally thousands of feet of films run, just to,encourage a student who is so particular about sensitometry and understanding the behavior of emulsions. He went all the way. He spoke to the chemist, Mr. Ratnam, and said, "Please do this for the students."

And Nandi was so happy, and he was there sitting with Ratnam to see the output of the sensitometric strips. This was the level of commitment and love for students which Sivaraman sir and the Prasad Lab had, actually.

A couple of years down the line, when I came back when Hariharan sir called me over to teach at Prasad, that's when I joined here and eventually became the Head of the Department of Cinematography.

The biggest joy for us then was when we were in SRFTI or other places, the lab was not there, the color processing laboratory was not there. Here, students could do their practicals every week, expose their stock, and on a weekly basis, they could see their rushes. So, the retention was very high. And when they do the next level of practicals, they could experiment differently or do the corrections whatever is needed. And that was a great boon for the students of LV Prasad Film and TV Academy in those days.

And the interaction with Ponnaiah sir and Sivaraman sir became more and more frequent. And the support is extensive—the kind of support they provide for the students. They don't see us as the other. They see us as a family of the Prasad Group. And they take the onus on themselves—Shivaraman sir, Ponnusamy sir, and others—that they are our students, and they have to do well, and we need to provide what is best for them and keep the commitment high. So, that was the kind of spirit and commitment and sincerity they had towards education.

And I would say Sivaraman sir was an epitome of patience. You know, every interaction I have with him, such enormous patience and gentleness that person had. And always kind words of encouragement.

I remember,—Ponnaiah sir would often call up and say, "You want to come and see? There is a Santosh Sivan film , Meenakshi, there are one or two reels here. If you're wanting to show it to your students, please bring them along." So, this was the kind of thing, Suddenly a call will come from Sivaraman sir or Ponnaiah sir saying that something interesting was happening, "Please come, and you know, let the students understand some good work done by our great cinematographers." So, this was so inspiring for us in those days.

And even, a student who is not happy with his print of a diploma film, they would be very encouraging, and they would say if the film really deserves, they'll go for a couple of more iterations of the print and till the student is satisfied with the print.  Of course, there is one thing that the students were the future customers, so that's one way of looking at it, but beyond that, it's undeniable their commitment and love towards education, —Sivaraman sir particularly had a great love for teaching.

And it was such a joy for me. I mean, who can teach sensitometry and lab chemistry and lab theory better than him? And whenever we have those portions to be covered in the syllabus, I would request sir, "Can you please come and take some classes?" He would be more than happy to come and, you know, teach the students. And again, such clarity, patience—I mean, it was really, really a boon for us.

And much later, when he took over as the administrative head of the academy, it was really someone who knows academics, who knows what filmmaking is. So, it was very easy to communicate with him if there were any needs or challenges, and you would see those things were really addressed.

So, we had a great mentor, a great person who mentored the academy and the students of the academy so very well. And I really truly have no words to express my sense of gratitude for what I've got through this man, as a student, as a teacher. It is really immeasurable.

It's really a very sad day for me to see such a great man, who is not there anymore with us. I just wish I had spent more time with him over the last year or months, which, of course, cannot be anymore.

My heartfelt pranams to him, and wishes for his soul to rest in peace.

R. Narayan Kumar 

Cinematographer / Teacher