Visual Eloquence

Arthur Wilson shares his celluloid journey with Daya Kingston.

Arthur Wilson has recently hit the 20-film mark with the film Naan Kadavul, which won much critical acclaim. The unusual subject deals with the dark and macabre world of agoris and the intricacies of organized beggary. Wilson has recreated this world by using dramatic lighting, playing with light and shadow to intensify the effect of the emotions displayed on screen ranging from nonchalance, despair to murderous anger. The visuals created quite a flutter and made the audience sit up and take notice. 

Naan Kadavul was extensively shot in Kasi, Madurai and Malikovil. Director Bala's films are usually disturbing and linger in the mind for long after. The visual treatment plays a great role in building the tempo of the film. Arthur says, "The introduction shot of Arya was really difficult, it had the hero Arya lying down and smoking and we used a revolving trolley to go around him and shoot from different angles."

Naan Kadavul is not a glossy film, it deals with grim reality. The protagonist played by Arya is an agori, a kind of sanyasi who eats human flesh from dead bodies. A castaway child who was left at Kasi by his parents, he grows up a sanyasi and later his family comes in search of him. Though they find him and try to integrate him into the regular routine of a small town family, he is unable to adjust and gets back to Kasi. A sub plot shows the bleak side of organized beggary. The female lead is a blind beggar girl.

Wilson says, "The story revolves around the lives of these characters, it was not necessary to have big colourful sets or picturize soft-hearted romantic scenes. The script depicts only the reality in lives, so the craft demanded real live characters. The beggars in the film were all real, not many actors were used. It was very challenging to shoot a true incident with real life characters in realistic locations. As the plot moves on to the darker shades of the character, I chose to use lower shades of light which resemble Rembrandt paintings. 

"The parts of the script that happened in Kasi fill the frame with agoris, rishis and dead bodies, so picked the tone of fire as major source for the particular locations; whereas the Mali Kovil portions had to be shot in a way that the frame was filled with a comparatively dark and slight source of light. I used Kodak Vision 5279, Vision 2 5201 stocks. I avoided filters.

"I have great regard for Bala and think he is one of the finest directors. What I really like is that he not only gives the cinematographer scope but also provides independence. He carefully explains every scene in a detailed manner and expects perfection in lighting the character according to their reactions. It was personally a wonderful experience for me to move along the shore of reality. He proves his brilliance in handling the perceptions of the scene."

Arthur Wilson is a graduate from the famous M.G.R. Film and Television Institute (Chennai). He had migrated from his village Koneripatty near Salem to Chennai to study and stayed with his uncle. His initial days in the film industry proved to be quite a struggle. He trained under DOP Selva Kumar and after that embarked on his own experiments and learnt a lot through the time-tested techniques of trial and error. 

"I paint and love to look at paintings," he says. "I firmly believe that the roots of cinematography lie in paintings. I think that if you do a thorough research on Leonardo Da Vinci and Rembrandt and understand them, you can become a good cinematographer. I spend a lot of time updating my knowledge of art and cinematography.

"When it comes to using film stocks, I have an understanding of Kodak film. I don't even see the rushes because I know what the output will be when I set a certain exposure. I like to use whatever new film stock comes in. I used to enjoy using an old stock, 5247. I like Vision 2 best. I would like to use new stock of 5207, I like the warmth it has but have not tried it yet." 

Arthur made his debut as cinematographer with Sundara Purushan starring Livingston and Rambha in lead roles; this was a runaway hit and his work was noticed. He considers as some of his best works Vannathaipolla staring Vijayakanth directed by Vikraman, Linguswamy's Aanandham, Sasi's Sollammalea, Ravi's Enn Swase Katre, K.S Ravi Kumar's Panchathanthiram, Sunder.C's Anbe Sivam, Simbu Devan's Imsai Arasan Irubathi Moondram Pulikesi and the Telugu film Batra. He has worked on two coveted films starring Kamal hassan - Anbe Sivam and Panchatanthiram.

Panchatanthiram was a rib-tickling comedy and he used the 5274 stock. Arthur recalls, "Kamal Haasan is one of our finest artistes. He knows everything about cinema and I have a lot to learn from him. In Anbe Sivam, we shot a scene where he's stuck in a storm. It was a great challenge, we shot on a floor filled with water. Kamal sir appreciates me for that shot. 

"In VI P, we shot many scenes inside a house using low lights. The lights were like Chinese lanterns and this created an interesting effect. I concentrate on telling my stories through my light. I love to shoot my picture according to an artist's feel. I follow aesthetics like they do in paintings and with different camera view points."

On his directors, he says, "I have worked with K.S. Ravi Kumar for two films and enjoyed the experience because he is clear what he wants and asks for many challenging shots. I am proud of the fact that I was the cinematographer for directors like Lingusamy, Sasi, Simbu Devan during their maiden ventures.

"My ambition is to work in Hollywood," he finishes on a rather ambitious note.