Mangalorean Mahendra Shetty wins Filmfare Award for Best Cinematographer
Mangalore Today News Network
Report by Mahesh Nayak
Mangalore, January 30: Mangalore born Mahendra J. Shetty was adjudged the Best Cinematographer at the 56th Filmfare Awards ceremony held at Yashraj Studios in Mumbai on Saturday night for his work in the critically acclaimed film ‘Udaan’ which was released last year.
Mahendra J. Shetty
Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol won the Best Actor and Actress award respectively for ‘My Name Is Khan’ at the awards ceremony, which was otherwise ruled by small budget movie Udaan that bagged as many as eight trophies.
The first-time director Vikramaditya Motwane’s ‘Udaan’ also won the Best Screenplay and the Best Story for Motwane and Anurag Kashyap; Best Background score for Amit Trivedi; Best Supporting Actor (Male) for Ronit Roy; and Best Film (Critics). ‘Udaan’ also won the Best Director (Critics) award for Motwane and Best Sound Design for Kunal Sharma.
Made on a shoe string budget, with the entire cast made up of mostly newcomers, ‘Udaan’ drew rave reviews when it was released in July last year. The film deals with the relationship between a rigid and dominating father and his teenage son.
The film was officially selected to compete in the Un Certain Regard (A Certain Glance) category at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.
36 year old Mangalorean Mahendra Shetty is the son of the late Dr. J. N. Shetty, who was an eminent dermatologist and Director of Father Muller Institute of Post Graduate Studies (Now Father Muller Medical College). His brother Dr. Narendra J. Shetty is a practicing dermatologist and Head of the Department of Dermatology, A.J. Institute of Medical Science, Mangalore.
After his high school in Mangalore, he studied Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) at Chamarajendra Academy of Visual Arts (CAVA), Mysore and was trained under many reputed cinematographers before attempting his first full length feature film ‘Super Star’ in 2008. ‘Udaan’ is his second independent assignment as a cinematographer.