Saani Kaayidham on Amazon Prime: Selvaraghavan's performance moved me, says cinematographer Yamini Yagnamurthy

Yamini Yagnamurthy has been getting unanimous praise from all quarters, for her camera work in Keerthy Suresh-Selvaraghavan starrer, Saani Kaayidham. Starting her career as a product photographer, she eventually joined the ace cinematographer PC Sreeram, as an assistant. Though Yamini doesn't want to brag about the film she was a part of, some scenes, like Sangayya crying in front of the burning hut and his climax, really stood out for her. Arun Matheswaran's debut film, Rocky, convinced Yamini to take up the director’s second film. She tells Cinema Express, “I didn't know who Arun was when Rocky came out, but I already knew cinematographer Shreyaas (Krishna). I was thrilled by the film language of Rocky."

Yamini's vision of how Saani Kaayidham must look was apparently in alignment with Arun’s. "Though Arun’s second film is set in the 80s, the minimalism in the choice of colours and setting ensures that it doesn't come across like other films set in the same period. We went for the minimalistic three-colour theory. You see blue in Ponni's blouse, the van, and of course, the sky, and red in Ponni's sarees and the blood, and khaki in the skin colour, earth and Sangayya's clothes," she tells Cinema Express.

The cinematographer speaks about a memorable moment in Saani Kaayidham where Sangayya wails in front of a burning house. "We had a camera on wide and two more cameras ready in a double-camera set-up. I was operating the wide shot, and we wanted to check the exposure of the fire. However, during the test, they ended up lighting the hut on fire by mistake, and so we could only afford that one take," she adds. Yamini had to run towards the hut because Selvaraghavan was performing with such passion. "The entire scene was a single take. Also, while capturing the close-up of Sangayya wailing in front of the house, I felt responsible to capture his emotion to my best potential. I was moved even while shooting it," she says.

The story of Saani Kaayidham follows the heart-wrenching journey of Ponni (Keerthy Suresh) who works as a constable and lives with her five-year-old daughter Dhanna and her husband Maari, who works as a coolie in a rice mill. On one unfortunate night, she loses everything. To avenge the injustice done to her, she takes the support of Sangaiah (Selvaraghavan), with whom she shares a bitter past.

Saani Kaayidham, which was released on May 6 on Amazon Prime Video, has music by Sam CS, art direction by Ramu Thangaraj, editing by Nagooran Ramachandran, and stunt work by Dhilip Subbarayan.