VK Murthy was passionate about his work, says SV Rajendra Singh Babu

Noted cinematographer and Dada Sahab Phalke Award winner VK Murthy passed away at his Bangalore residence on Monday at the age of 90. SV Rajendra Singh Babu, who directed Hoovu Hannu — Murthy’s first Kannada film — remembers his passion.
Noted cinematographer and Dada Sahab Phalke Award winner VK Murthy passed away at his Bangalore residence on Monday at the age of 90. SV Rajendra Singh Babu, who directed Hoovu Hannu — Murthy’s first Kannada film — remembers his passion.
“I was a great fan of his films and work, and have followed his films right from Chaudhvi Ka Chand, Pyaasa, Kaagaz Ke Phool and Love In Tokyo. My desire was to work with him. When I was making Hindi films in the 80s and 90s, I got to interact with him. Once, when we were shooting at different levels at RK Studio, he dropped by to meet me. He always had great regard for Kannada films. I asked him to wield the camera for one film and he agreed to do Hoovu Hannu at the age of 74.
He had immense passion for his work and was active even then. He had told me about how he would conceptualize shots, and in his quest to learn, he even had landed up on the sets of The Guns of Navarone, where he picked up more mastery on the art. Today, when directors talk about certain close-ups, they refer to it as the Murthy close-up. In fact, just this week, I was talking to my colleagues regarding my next film that is set in the 50s and wanted Murthy sir to head the cinematography team, since he’s created the magic of the era. If Guru Dutt had the imagination, it was Murthy who brought it to life on celluloid. He’s a part of our cinema history that no one will forget.” (As told to Sunayana Suresh)