Nandakumar Thottathil
A postgraduate in Motion Picture Photography from Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, I have had an interesting career graph so far, and I thank all those people in the media and film industry who have reposed faith and confidence in my craft. I have worked with some of the most respected organisations and individuals over the past three decades. Like my father, I believe in painting the canvas of my life from every possible angle and perspective, and that’s something which has helped me to enrich the kaleidoscopic imprints of my body of work. I feel deeply honoured for having worked with some of the finest minds in the film industry, and hope to continue such kinship and new prospects in search of more arresting freeze-frames.
Passion: The film/TV projects I have undertaken thus far relate to neo-realistic subjects. An ardent admirer of classic cinema, I am an expert in source lighting; it helps you acquire the right mood for a film’s subject.
Craft/bent of mind: A philosopher, thinker, writer, photographer, and an artist in painting.
Present status: Managing Director of Ecstasy Media -a Post Production Studio with Digital Editing, Colour Grading and Audio Recording facilities.
A brief history of my career
- Graduation in Mathematics from Calicut University (1985).
- Postgraduate Diploma in Motion Picture Photography from Film and Television Institute of India, Pune (January 1992-December 1994).
- Cameraman for more than 50 documentaries at the Centre for Development of Imaging Technology, the Kerala State Film Development Corporation and Kerala Public Relations Department.
- Cameraman on contract for IGNCA, New Delhi, for one year.
- Associate Cameraman for six Feature Films.
- Cameraman for a few TV serials, Telefilms, and Documentaries for Doordarshan and other TV channels, including Asianet.
- Director of Photography for a few Children's films and Advertisements.
- Chief Cameraman at Kairali TV for two-and-a-half years.
- Director of Photography at Qatar Media Corporation for 13 years.
- Second Unit DOP in 'Baalyakaalasakhi' and 'Apothecary' Feature Films with my friend and DOP Hari Nair.
- DOP/Director for few Documentaries (The Sea of Ecstasy, The Saga of Kodungallur Bharani and Writing with Light) in which, ‘The Sea of Ecstasy’ won Kerala State Television Best Direction & Producer Awards in General Documentary Category and also won few International Awards (Best Documentary and Achievement Awards) .
- Recent Documentary film KITTU THE DOG MAN has been selected in 7 Indian Major Film Festivals including 8th South Asian Short Film festival (SASFF) organised by Eastern region of Federation of Film societies of India. Also Producing WEEPING CRADLE Docu-Fiction by Satish Venganoor.
