K. V. Anand

Biography

Karimanal Venkatesan Anand (30 October 1966 – 30 April 2021) was an Indian cinematographer, film director, and photojournalist, who worked mainly in the Tamil film industry.

After a short period as a journalist, he became a cinematographer in the early 1990s, working on about fifteen films in the Southern and Hindi cinema industries. 

Anand won the National Film Award for Best Cinematography for his debut film as a cinematographer, Thenmavin Kombath. 

In 2005, Anand turned film director with the critically acclaimed Kana Kandaen. He was a founding member of the Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC).

Anand was born in Chennai, in the state of Tamil Nadu in India on 30 October 1966 to Karimanal Munuswamy Venkatesan and Anusuya Venkatesan.

 His childhood days were spent in Pulicat. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Physics from DG Vaishnav College in June 1986, followed by a master's degree in Visual Communications from Loyola College, Chennai.

 During his college days, Anand participated in annual trekking expeditions in the Himalayas. His exploratory trips to various remote locations in India triggered his passion for photography.

 Anand participated in inter-collegiate, state, and national-level photography contests. His visual images earned him numerous photography awards.

Anand worked as a freelance photojournalist for leading newspapers and magazines such as Kalki, India Today, Illustrated Weekly, Aside, and other national publications. 

Within a short period of time, his photos were published on more than 200 magazine covers, and had taken photos of 10 Chief Ministers in close quarters. Anand continued to freelance in industrial photography, advertisements, and cover pages for fictional Tamil novels.

Anand met cinematographer P. C. Sreeram and expressed his interest to work for him as an assistant. He joined him, serving as an apprentice for Sreeram's films such as Gopura Vasalile, Amaran, Meera, Devar Magan, and Thiruda Thiruda. 

He had initially joined as the sixth assistant to Sreeram when Jeeva, another prominent figure in cinematography was the first assistant to Sreeram. 

When director Priyadarshan approached P. C. Sreeram to work on his Malayalam film, Thenmavin Kombath (1994), he was unavailable and thus recommended Anand to be given the opportunity.

 The film received positive reviews and Anand won the National Film Award for Best Cinematography for his debut venture, with the award committee noting he showed "outstanding cinematography executed with sincerity, imagination and flexibility".

 Anand's first Tamil film was the romantic drama Kadhal Desam (1996), which also won critical acclaim for showcasing Chennai in a futuristic mold. 

He also then teamed up with director Shankar for the production of the political thriller Mudhalvan (2000), winning appreciation for his experimental camera ramping and the general grandeur.

Anand died in Chennai in the early hours of 30 April 2021 following a cardiac arrest.[30] At the time, he tested positive for COVID-19.