Exclusive! Cinematographer Supratim Bhol on winning National Award: Ever since I held a camera, my father wanted me to win this award

Cinematographer Supratim Bhol bagged this year’s Best Cinematography Award at the 68th National Film Awards, which was announced in Delhi on Thursday. He received the award for his work in Subhrajit Mitra’s Avijatrik. The film that features Arjun Chakrabarty, Sabyasachi Chakrabarty, Ditipriya Roy, Sreelekha Mitra and several others also won the Best Bengali Film Award. Meanwhile, another Supratim’s work, Dada Lakhmi – a Haryanvi film directed by Yashpal Sharma – won an award on Thursday. 

“I am happy because my father and my mother could see me winning this award. Ever since I held a camera, my father wanted me to win the National Award. Today, when the award was announced, he stepped out for a bit. I know that he is the happiest man today,” said the cinematographer, whose black and white film Avijatrik has received global acclaim. 

Talking about the shooting of the film, he said, “We shot for 22 days in 70 different locations in five cities – Benaras, Kolkata, Taki, Bolpur and North Bengal. We shot for months – September 2018 to December 2018. It was an interesting journey for me.”

Supratim emphatically mentioned the actor Arjun Chakrabarty’s work. “I was inspired by two people in the film and Arjun is the first one. Capturing his emotion was a delight. After every shot, I used to think if he would bring out similar emotion in the next shot and he did. The second person who deeply motivated me in this film is Goutam Basu – the art director of Avijatrik. He helped me with the basic layout of the work,” he said. 

Supratim is happy for Dada Lakhmi also. “It is a biopic on someone who is considered to be the Shakespear of Haryana. This is Yashpal’s debut work. We shot in the interiors of the state for 55 days. I am very glad that it won the award,” he said.