Cinema is an audio-visual amalgamation of several diverse creative forces. With India’s pop culture essentially immersed in the Bollywood frenzy, most of us overlook the extensive diligence that shapes our films. From the director, to the spot boy, everyone has a part to play.
One such elemental figure in this artform is the cinematographer. The cinematographer sculpts the visual narrative of this escapist medium and ensures your get struck by the moving imagery. The absolute authority on the technical wizardry of the camera, the cinematographer is the first person to experience the film upfront. And one such striking individual in this discipline, is Jay Oza.
Close-up
The 35-year-old has had an impressive career with some exceptional projects under his belt, including the more recent hits, Gully Boy and Made in Heaven. Hailing from Baroda, Gujarat, Jay was majoring in art history and aesthetics when he decided to take a stab at filmmaking by interning as a set PA over his summer breaks. A rather decisive move back then, Jay was essentially exploring his creative options due to his distaste of ever working a regular 9 to 5. Its during his days as an assistant director on the sets of films like Rang De Basanti and Jodha Akhbar, that he was bewitched by the overwhelming scale and effort of filmmaking. But it was the camera department that was enticing him.
Timelapse
“[Camera department] would’ve all that swag and would walk around as if they were the coolest people on planet Earth”, says Jay. As we sit in his Versova flat, Jay is kind enough to tie his dog, Gigi, up for our interview’s sake. We continue to talk films as I confess my love for Bring on The Night, my introduction to his work. Set against the backdrop of Mumbai’s nightlife, the show premiered on MTV India back in 2012. And it’s safe to say the creative team behind this project has moved on to bigger things: writer/director Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy is set to direct A. R. Rahman’s 99 Songs, Arjun Mathur has been showered with praise for his stellar performance in Made in Heaven, Hussain Dalal just won a Filmfare for his performance in Shameless, Patrick Graham wrote and directed Netflix’s Ghoul. “We all were people who wanted to create and have fun”, reminisces Jay. But things were just getting started.
Exposure
Over the years, Jay toiled away to hone his craft. He accounts his time in Prague film school and his days as a set PA and an assistant director to be highly instrumental, “I tell the kids who want to only assist the camera department – go assist everywhere, get rugged, get used to the lingo, get used to the equations between people on set. So when your time comes you can manipulate it for the good and make it work.” However, it was his days as a newbie cinematographer on the sets The Dewarists that he cites to be his strongest schooling. The multi-camera documentary format engrained volumes of knowledge and shaped him to be bold and experimental. Conceptualizing a music video for the morning by getting a track from the musicians at midnight, allowed him to be on his feet and be instantaneously creative. It’s also where he met his collaborator Tanay Sattam. The cinematographer duo worked on several other projects like Bring on The Night and 24. In fact, Tanay was one of the few people Jay immediately called after getting his first feature film, Anurag Kashyap’s Raman Raghav 2.0.
Master Shot
It’s safe to say that these last few months itself have been monumental for his career. With Made in Heaven sweeping the nation and Gully Boy becoming a cult classic already, one would imagine Jay to be on cloud nine. Both distinctly stylistic projects have their backdrops set on the opposite ends of the spectrum. But for Jay, it was all about his character’s background. It was important for him to do justice to both, the narrow bustling gullies of Mumbai, and to the shimmering high life of Delhi. With respect to getting Gully Boy right, he says, “I told Zoya [Akhtar] that if it looks fake or made up at any given second, then it’ll fall flat on its face. I had to mould the actors into the world. It was important for Ranveer to look like Murad and not Ranveer and Alia to look like Safeena and not Alia.” He also recounts the joy he felt on receiving lots of love over messages and Instagram post Gully Boy; not only from fans, but also from industry professionals and senior cinematographers who were showering him with praise. “That’s when you feel truly satisfied as a filmmaker. A lot goes into making a film then sometimes people don’t see it and it’s gone within a fraction of a second. Everything you had put in at a particular time just dies. So when it is acknowledged and you know that something you made is there to stay for someone, that’s the feeling which is extremely satisfactory”, exclaims Jay.
Key Lighting
But its not all fun and games. This labour-intensive field demands a high level of physical and mental commitment. And there’s much more to it than knowing your way around the camera. Demystifying the work of a cinematographer, Jay explains, “They think cinematography is just about lighting, short taking, designing and all. They don’t know what goes into just getting there. Dealing with the production to get the team and resources you ned. Handling the team making the calls. Entire day’s pressure on you which might cost like 20 lakhs. So you’ve to be on your feet always and continuously come up with alternative plans.” Jay confesses that a 12-14 hour physically intense day requires at least 2-3 hours to unwind, “You can’t just switch in and out. If you want to create, you somehow have to live with those characters.” Take Ghoul for instance, the grimy and dark content had the crew spending 27 days in the dingy basement of Tulip star with no circulation of air combined with the crazy monsoons outside. Or even 24, which had an action packed 188-day schedule. Jay recounts how social lives were shattered during that period and how he also lost one of his assistants in a tragic accident.
Deep Focus
But there are also sweetly unexpected moments of being behind the camera too. During Murad’s return to his neighbourhood in the end of Gully Boy, Jay found himself shedding a tear. Even in Made in Heaven, when Arjun Mathur’s character resolves things with his father, Jay was really moved and had to hug both the actors. Citing Roger Deakins and Christopher Doyle as his key influences, Jay describes his style as, “I’m generally a sensitive guy. I may not be a technically sound DP, but I capture the emotional sensitivity of the scene and put it in my camera language.” So, there’s no doubt that its Jay’s passion and sheer resilience that has shaped his craft and helped him get so far, as he concludes, “This is an extremely hardworking process. I remember so many days in Bombay when I’ve cried in corners and had lonely Diwalis. But I kept at it because I love labour work, I enjoy it. You just have to be at it constantly, it takes time. It’ll pay its due. Here I am.”
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