Mahendra Shetty!!

Anurag Kashyap was a part of ‘Udaan’
Amit Trivedi’s music
Amitabh Bhattacharya’s lyrics
Ronit Roy

These were reasons enough for me to even wait for ‘Udaan’. When I watched the film, I fell in love with it – the characters, the music, the performances, the direction and yes, the cinematography. I loathed the fact that it did not receive a decent list of nominations under the popular category at the 56^th Filmfare Awards. However, it won a number of them in them in the critics and a few in the popular as well. I now have an additional reason to love the movie – Mahendra Shetty.

Mahendra Shetty, bagged the best cinematographer for ‘Udaan’ at the Filmfare Awards. If you have not guessed why I am stressing on the cinematographer in this write-up, then I can just conclude that you have probably not followed my write ups until now! It’s the ‘Shetty’ in his name! Whenever I hear, read or see anything that is remotely Mangalorean there is a sense of pride and joy that overflows. I don’t know why I cling on to the fact that I am a Mangalorean, but yes, I love that feeling.

Mahendra Shetty made me feel awesome when I saw the film. I however at that point did not know who the cinematographer was! Else, I would blogged about him long ago. Son of the late Dr. J N Shetty, Mahendra, completed his schooling in Mangalore and then came to Mysore to do his BFA. Since then he has assisted various cinematographers. ‘Udaan’ was his second film as an independent cinematographer, Superstar being the first. This is about his origin.

Moving on to Mahendra’s work, I was overwhelmed by the shots that were taken at sunrise when the father-son go for their morning jog. I could sense the light go beyond the screens and create a lasting effect on me. His point of view along with the director, Vikramaditya Motwane has made ‘Udaan’ a masterpiece.

Finally, is there a possibility that I write about ‘Udaan’ and forget to mention about Amit Trivedi. Please listen to the songs to figure out how awesome the songs are!

At the end of it, all I have to say is that I love ‘Udaan’.