Ashwath Narayan’s legacy of cine life in black, white and tones of sepia

Once upon a time, movie stills had been displayed at single-screen theatres, safely out of the attain of memorabilia hunters, in glass instances beneath a banner proudly proclaiming “Now Showing”. Now, unseen gems from the 88-year-old historical past of the Kannada movie trade, as captured by photojournalist Ashwath Narayana, between 1966 and 2005, will go on show at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat.

“I initially wanted to display over 500 pictures but had to settle for 300 due to lack of space. We limited ourselves to ‘behind the scene’ photographs of artistes on location and technicians at work,” says Ashwath, speaking concerning the exhibition titled, Nenapu-Ashwath Camera Kannalli (Memories-through lens eye of Ashwath) which was curated by cinematographer B S Basavaraj and movie historian Doddahullura Rukkoji.

Ashwath Narayan

Among the displays are footage of a number of Hindi movie legends equivalent to Raj Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna, and Jaya Bhaduri, amongst others. “They were quite cooperative and down to earth — whether it was Rajesh Khanna, Amrish Puri or Pran, they did not flaunt their stardom,” Ashwath remembers.

Ashwath and his household have been intently linked to the historical past of Kannada cinema for many years — Pragati Studio in Gandhi Nagar, established in 1972, completely took film stills and finally got here to be generally known as Pragati Ashwat Narayan. It pulled down its shutters in 2005.

Jaya Bhaduri
| Photo Credit: Ashwath Narayan

Ashwath’s curiosity in images started in 1965 and he credit his brother Nagesh Baba, who was working Three Star Studio devoted to cinema in T Nagar, in Chennai, for nudging him in this route.

“My brother asked me to assist him in his studio after my matriculation examination in Bengaluru,” Ashwath says. “One day he asked me to visit a set and photograph the ongoing shooting. Once there, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the movie was Belli Moda (1967) — directed by Puttanna Kanagal, it was the first Kannada movie to be shot exclusively outdoors.”

Yesteryear actors Bharathi and Dr Rajkumar travelling in a bus 
| Photo Credit: Ashwath Narayan

Ashwath by no means regarded again after  Belli Moda and went on to doc the making of over 300 films, gracefully exiting the scene in 2005, when digital images took over.

Looking again at his profession, Ashwath says he’s equally indebted to film-makers, cinematographers, technicians and many others for the singular success he has loved. Apart from working with greats equivalent to Puttanna Kanagal, S. Siddalingaiah, Bangale Shama Rao Dwarakanath (popularly generally known as Dwarakish) and others, he has additionally been credited with capturing the primary photos of Shankar Nag, Charan Raj, Sridhar and different legends.

Ashwath was instrumental in capturing stills for over 11 of Puttanna Kanagal’s movies. He remembers, ”I used to be continually capturing round Puttanna and initially, he would simply tolerate me. However, he slowly understood the significance of capturing the method of filmmaking and accepted me as a component of his unit.”

Puttanna at a celebration thrown by Kalpana
| Photo Credit: Ashwath Narayan

Puttanna alone is the topic of round 600 negatives Ashwath has, some of which he’s digitising. “Almost any photo of his that appears today was taken by me,” says Ashwath, who held an exhibition of over 200 pictures documenting Puttanna’s working fashion in 2011.

Generations of cinema-goers have seen his pictures on numerous platforms, usually displayed with out giving Ashwath credit score. His ebook Chitrapatha, is an try to introduce at present’s technology to the bygone days of Kannada cinema and yesteryear stars. Dr Rajkumar-Samagra Charitre, by Doddahullura Rukkoji which gained a nationwide award, has over 700 footage of the legendary film star shot by Ashwath. Similarly, books on S. Siddalingaiah and Puttanna Kanagal by author Shashidhar Chitradurga boast of pictures clicked by Ashwath, who has a treasure trove of over three lakh negatives captured in his Rolleicord — a medium format twin lens reflex digicam.

Dr Rajkumar and Puttanna
| Photo Credit: Ashwath Narayan

“His black-and-white images, captured mostly in natural light have a magical effect. Each of his frames tell a story; at the same time, they are instructive and informative about the process of filmmaking itself. There is a candid, endearing quality about his images — you can see his love for cinema shine through them,” says B S Basavaraj, famous cinematographer, who labored with Ashwath in Siddalingaiah’s Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu. 

Black and white stays Ashwath’s favorite format. “In black and white pictures, there is no distraction of colour. There was a time when films were marketed based on the album of stills captured during their making. They were used to capture the emotional quotient of the film and trigger curiosity in potential audiences,” he says, ruefully admitting that the artwork has since been diminished to a modelling stint. “All stills today feature the actors or actresses modelling,” says Ashwath, including that it was one of the explanations he bid adieu to nonetheless images.

Yesteryear actresses Sarojadevi, Pandari Bai, Bhanumathi and Jayanthi
| Photo Credit: Ashwath Narayan

Now 76, Ashwath is apprehensive concerning the preservation of his footage’ negatives. He is planning to create a digital library which might give movie historians, writers, college students and archivists entry to his treasure trove of visuals; nonetheless, the dearth of funds has been a serious impediment. “So far, over 70,000 negatives have been digitised. The National Film Archives of India (NFAI) offered me a dignified sum for handing over my visual property, but I refused. My intention is to preserve these pictures for the benefit of Kannada cinema. If the government shows any interest, I am ready to part with them for the Karnataka Film Archives being planned by Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy.”

Nenapu-Ashwath Camera Kannalli, an exhibition of uncommon pictures on Kannada cinema, shall be on show at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat from September 2-4

Ashwath Narayan

Dr Rajkumar and Thoogudeepa Srinivas
| Photo Credit: Ashwath Narayan