Cinemaazi remembers Ashok Kumar Aggarwal on his birth anniversary

Cinemaazi remembers the cinematographer Ashok Kumar Aggarwal on his birth anniversary. A National Award-winning cinematographer, Ashok Kumar Aggarwal is one of the most important technicians in the history of Malayalam and Tamil cinema. Son of poet Kedarnath Aggarwal, he made his debut in 1969  with the acclaimed Malayalam film Janmabhoomi. Since then he worked regularly with major Malayalam directors like P N Menon, Babu Nanthankode, J Sasikumar and Ramu Kariat. He shot P Menon's acclaimed successes Chembarathi (1972) and Gayathri (1973), J D Thottan's Nurayum Pathayum (1977), Bharathan's Guruvayur Kesavan (1977), Aaravam (1978) and Thakara (1979). He made his Tamil cinema debut with J Mahendran's Uthiripookkal (1979) and went on to shoot his much-lauded Nenjathai Killathe (1980). He won the National Award for Best Cinematography for this film. He was able to balance his work in commercial cinema (working with directors like K Bhagyaraj and S Shankar) with his work in art films. He also shot Jijo Punnoose's My Dear Kuttichathan (1984), the first film to be shot in 3D format in India. He ventured into Hindi cinema with films like Kamagni (1987) and Bawandar (2000). He was also the recipient of the V Shantaram Award for Best Cinematography for his work in Bawandar. His work has inspired legions of next-generation cinematographers like Ramachandra Babu, Ravi K Chandran and Venu.