Nirav Shah | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 16 November 1974 |
| Occupation(s) | Cinematographer, entrepreneur |
Nirav Shah (born 16 November 1974) is an Indian cinematographer. He has worked on a number of major box office hits in Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam since his debut with the 2004 Hindi film Paisa Vasool . [1] [2]
After having worked as an assistant to other noted cinematographers and solely on many television advertisements, music videos and short films, Nirav Shah became an independent cinematographer for a "full feature film", debuting with the 2004 Bollywood film Paisa Vasool , following which he worked on another Hindi project Intequam (2004). It was, however, the Hindi blockbuster film Dhoom (2004) that made people take notice of Shah, winning him accolades and gaining him fame and popularity.
Subsequently, Shah got offers from the Tamil film industry as well and moved southwards, debuting in Kollywood with the 2005 Linguswamy-directed action film Sandakozhi , following which he was called up by director Vishnuvardhan. They first teamed up for the 2005 Tamil gangster film Pattiyal , following which Vishnuvardhan worked together with Shah for all his following feature films, creating, along with noted music composer, Yuvan Shankar Raja, one of the most acclaimed and most successful collaborations in the Tamil film industry. [1] [2] [3] [4] Shah's works in Vishnuvardhan's films including Arinthum Ariyamalum (2005), Billa (2007) and the most recent Sarvam (2008) got high praise and much critical acclaim, turning him into one of the most sought-after young cinematographers in Kollywood.
He returned to Bollywood to work on the films Banaras and the sequel of Dhoom (both 2006), for which Shah again won accolades and also received several awards and nominations, particular for the latter one. He was signed up by Prabhu Deva for the Vijay-starrer Pokkiri (2007) and by the director-duo Pushkar-Gayathri for their debut venture Oram Po (2007). In 2008 then, Nirav Shah was called by noted filmmaker Shankar to handle the camera for his forthcoming magnum opus science-fiction film Enthiran , but Shah had to reject the invitation because he had already given his word to his friend Vishnuvardhan's Sarvam . He went on to work on the Hindi remake of Pokkiri, Wanted , directed again by Prabhu Deva and A. L. Vijay's Madrasapattinam .
In July 2009, it was announced that Shah would soon turn film director, directing a film under actor Arya's production, starring Arya's brother Sathya in the lead role. [5] Besides, Shah is currently developing and building India's biggest film studio, located at the Old Mahabalipuram Road off Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, which is said to cost around Rs. 100 crore. [6] [7] [8]
Three of his films have been nominated at the National Award for the Best Cinematographer: Banaras (Hindi), Pattiyal (Tamil) and Dhoom 2 (Hindi). He won the Tamil Nadu Government's State Award for Best Cinematographer for Billa (Tamil).
South Indian International Movie Awards
Yuvan Shankar Raja is an Indian composer and playback singer. He mainly scores music for Tamil films along with few Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use of Western music elements and often credited with having introduced hip hop to the Tamil film and music industry and started the "era of remixes" in Tamil Nadu which included mixed EDM and jazz. He is frequently referred to as the "BGM King" and the "Young Maestro" of Tamil Film Music. Yuvan has won two Filmfare Awards South, five Mirchi Music Awards South, three Vijay Awards and two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.
Jamshad Cethirakath, known by his stage name Arya, is an Indian actor and film producer who predominantly appears in Tamil cinema and a few Malayalam and Telugu films. Arya has won two Filmfare Awards South and two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. He was included on the 2015 edition of the Forbes India Celebrity 100, a list based on the top earning Indian celebrities.
Padmapriya Janakiraman, better known mononymously as Padmapriya, is an Indian actress who mainly appears in Malayalam films. Padmapriya made her acting debut in the Telugu film Seenu Vasanthi Lakshmi in 2004.
Pattiyal (transl. List) is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language crime thriller film written and directed by Vishnuvardhan and produced by Punnagai Poo Gheetha. It stars Bharath, Arya, Pooja Umashankar, and Padmapriya Janakiraman while Cochin Haneefa and Santhana Bharathi play pivotal roles. The film tackles the issue of dons and was based on the 1999 Thai film Bangkok Dangerous.
Indian cinematographers work in a number of regional film centres: Mumbai for films in Marathi and Hindi, Hyderabad for Telugu films, Chennai for Tamil films, Kochi for films in Malayalam, Kolkata for Bengali films, Bangalore for Kannada films, etc. Most Indian cinematographers are known for their work with one regional industry. Some cinematographers belong to various professional organisations and trade unions.
Pokkiri (transl. Rogue) is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Prabhu Deva and produced by Kanagarathna Movies. It is the Tamil remake of the 2006 Telugu film Pokiri directed by Puri Jagannadh. The film stars Vijay in the lead role alongside Asin, Prakash Raj, Nassar, Mukesh Tiwari, Vadivelu, Sriman, Anandaraj, Napoleon, Vincent Asokan, Subbaraju and Master Bharath. The film is about a young IPS officer who works for Police Commissioner Mohammed Maideen Khan IPS and goes undercover as a rogue to take out the anti-socials.
S. Ravi Varman is an Indian cinematographer, filmmaker, producer and writer. He has predominantly works in Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi film industries. Ravi Varman began his career in Malayalam films. He directed a romantic film in Tamil titled Moscowin Kavery (2010). Honorary member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) (2024)
Vishnuvardhan is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who predominantly works in the Tamil cinema.
Billa is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Vishnuvardhan. It is a remake of the 1980 film of the same name starring Rajnikanth, which itself is a remake of 1978 Hindi film Don, starring Amithabh Bachchan. The film stars Ajith Kumar who plays a double role as an underworld don and his friendly look-alike alongside Nayanthara and Namitha, while Prabhu, Rahman, Adithya Menon, and Santhanam playing supporting roles. It is produced by L. Suresh and Abdurrahman M while featuring a score and soundtrack by Yuvan Shankar Raja, cinematography by Nirav Shah and editing by A. Sreekar Prasad.
Sarvam (transl. Everything) is a 2009 Indian Tamil romantic psychological thriller film co-written and directed by Vishnuvardhan. It stars Arya and Trisha, while J. D. Chakravarthy, Prathap Pothan, and Indrajith play prominent supporting roles. The film, which had been under production since late 2006, was produced and distributed by K. Karunamoorthy and C. Arunpandian under the banner of Ayngaran International Films. It was filmed by Nirav Shah and edited by Sreekar Prasad. The film's soundtrack, composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, was released on 14 February 2009, coinciding with Valentine's Day.
Madrasapattinam is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language historical romantic drama film written and directed by A. L. Vijay. The film stars Arya with Amy Jackson,, while Carole Trangmar-Palmer played older version of Amy. Nassar, Cochin Hanifa, Lisa Lazarus, and Alexx O'Nell play supporting roles. The music was composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar with editing by Anthony and cinematography by Nirav Shah. The film was released on 9 July 2010 and became a box office success.
The Vijay Award for Best Cinematographer is given by STAR Vijay as part of its annual Vijay Awards ceremony for Tamil (Kollywood) films.
Vettai (transl. Hunt) is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language action film co-produced, written and directed by N. Linguswamy. The film stars Arya and R. Madhavan in the lead roles, while Sameera Reddy, Amala Paul, Ashutosh Rana, Nassar and Thambi Ramaiah appear in supporting roles. The music was composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, and cinematography and editing handled by Nirav Shah and Anthony.
Yuvan – Live in Concert is a concert by Indian musician Yuvan Shankar Raja. The concert, Yuvan's second in his career, took place on Pongal, 16 January 2011 at the YMCA Grounds, Nandanam, Chennai. Following the announcement, popular Tamil television STAR Vijay agreed to collaborate, sponsoring, organising and marketing the concert, while airing a special television series about Yuvan Shankar Raja, with family members and prominent celebrities closely associated to him participating, besides producing a promotional music video, titled "I'll be there for you". The five-hour show, which was attended by 20,000 people, including several noted film personalities, was received very positively and considered a highly successful event. The concert was aired on 11 and 12 February, Friday and Saturday at 2000 hrs on Vijay TV.
Billa II is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language action film directed and co-written by Chakri Toleti. It is a prequel to Billa and the film was set at the ending of late 1990s. The story focuses on how David Billa, an ordinary man from the coastal regions of Sri Lanka, becomes a dreaded underworld don. The film stars Ajith Kumar reprising the role of the titular character, leading an ensemble cast including Vidyut Jammwal, Parvathy Omanakuttan, Bruna Abdullah, Yog Japee, Rohit Khurana, Manoj K. Jayan, Sudhanshu Pandey, Dinesh Lamba, Krishna Kumar, Sricharan, Janaki Sabesh, Madhusudhan Rao and Rahman. The film's soundtrack and background score were composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, while R. D. Rajasekhar handled the cinematography and Suresh Urs worked as the editor.
Dinesh Kumar is an Indian choreographer working with South Indian films, including Tamil films. He won the National Film Award for Best Choreography for his work in Aadukalam (Tamil) in 2010.
Arrambam (transl. Beginning) is a 2013 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Vishnuvardhan. Produced by A. Raghuram and co-written by Subha, the film stars Ajith Kumar, Arya, Nayanthara, Taapsee Pannu and Rana Daggubati, with Mahesh Manjrekar, Aadukalam Naren, Kishore, Atul Kulkarni, Akshara Gowda and Murali Sharma in supporting roles. While the score and soundtrack of the film were composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, the cinematography was handled by Om Prakash and editing by A. Sreekar Prasad.
George C. Williams is an Indian cinematographer, who works in the Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam film industry.
Sarvam is the soundtrack album for the 2009 Indian Tamil-language romantic thriller film of the same name starring Arya and Trisha directed by Vishnuvardhan. The film score and the soundtrack were composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, who renewed his previous association with Vishnuvardhan, for whom he had earlier created successful musical albums in Arinthum Ariyamalum (2005), Pattiyal (2006) and Billa (2007). The album featuring five songs had lyrics written by Pa. Vijay, which released on 14 February 2009 to positive response.
