M. V. Raghu

M. V. Raghu Biography

M. V. Raghu is a noted cinematographer of south Indian film industry, who has directed two movies – critically acclaimed ‘Kallu’ and ‘Aarthanadam’, both released in 1988. He also wrote the screenplay of the movie – Deeksha. He won the Nandi Award for Best Cinematography for the film Siri Vennela. His debut film Kallu was a neo realistic film based on the lives of blind people, written by Gollapudi Maruti Rao. The movie fetched numerous awards at different award functions and was screened at Indian panorama section of the International Film Festival of India. The movie gathered 30 awards including two Nandi awards, a Filmfare and a special mention from the CBFC Jury.

He was born in Bhimavaram and is a science graduate from Vijayawada. But his intense desire to photography prompted him to choose a career in the field, despite negative responses from family. Though he got selection for a diploma course at Pune and Adyar Institute of Photography, his financial troubles was his major problem. So he later joined a two-year course at Government College of Fine Arts and Architecture (now JNTU) in Hyderabad, though he faced oppositions from the family. He finished the course with excellent marks and during his college days itself he started working as part-time photographer in various studios and as a freelance photographer to earn a living and funding for the course. He had a borrowed camera of his friend.

Since childhood Hollywood movies fascinated him a lot and his course taught him a lot about photography. But gradually his attention shifted from photography to films. He worked as an assistant of V.S.R. Swamy, whom he regards as his mentor. The movie was `Bhakta Kanappa'. Prior to his new job, Swamy enrolled him at Vijaya Vauhini studios, where he worked under almost 200 different cameramen for over a period of one year. He worked as an apprentice of V.S.R. Swamy for 25 films followed by S. Gopal Reddy for 20 films. He got his first break as an independent cameraman with the film `Maga Maharaju'.

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Updated: January 18, 2016