Decoding the visual aesthetics of ‘Gaami’ with Vishwanath Reddy Chelumalla

Vishwanath Reddy Chelumalla discusses his cinematography journey, from wedding photography to filming the visually stunning Telugu film Gaami, starring Vishwak Sen and Chandini Chowdary and directed by Vidyadhar Kagita.

One of the striking aspects of the recently released Telugu film Gaami is its visual aesthetics, with its cinematography playing a significant part. Vishwanath Reddy Chelumalla, who filmed a large part of Gaami (some portions were filmed by Rampy Nandigam), in his first-ever interview, says matter of factly that we are witnessing work that is a few years old since the film was in the making for more than seven years. 

Currently, he is learning to use AI (artificial intelligence) tools, armed with the learnings from a ‘prompt engineering’ course for the image generation process. Alongside, he has begun the groundwork for his next Telugu film 8 Vasanthalu, to be directed by Phanindra Narisetti. Earlier, Vishwanath had collaborated with the director for the Telugu indie, Manu. 

Vishwanath and director Vidyadhar Kagita of Gaami are also long-time collaborators, ever since the former was a wedding photographer and eventually shot the director’s short films Vara and Vaitarani. 

If you were piqued by the texture of Gaami, in which some portions appeared calculatedly grainy, it is the result of trying to create the warmth of analogue while filming in digital mode. Research went into choosing the appropriate cameras and lenses for the terrains and weather conditions befitting the three stories in the film. 

“Until now, I never wanted to talk about myself or my work because I wanted to do something substantial,” says Vishwanath, during this interview at the UV Productions office in Hyderabad. Before discussing the intricacies of Gaami, he recalls his early years in Karimnagar. “My parents were teachers at a government school and we had no connections with the film industry.” He pursued B.Tech before branching out to do wedding photography. He also took up a diploma course in visual effects. 

It all began when his parents gifted him a Kodak point-and-shoot camera when he was in Class VII. “I did not understand photography but enjoyed playing around with the gadget.” 

Vishwanath grew keen on photography sometime in 2009. He would shoot landscapes, macros and anything that did not involve people. “I was shy to talk to people and did not take portraits.” Once, former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam visited the campus (J B Institute of Engineering and Technology, Moinabad) and a friend encouraged him to take photographs. A usually shy Vishwanath made his way through the crowd and took a few photographs of Kalam. It was a start. By 2015, Vishwanath had become a seasoned wedding photographer, capturing different moods of people. He had left B.Tech midway, with 21 backlogs, and it was wedding photography that gave him financial stability.