Director and cinematographer K.V. Anand no more

Director and cinematographer K.V. Anand died early on Friday morning in Chennai following a cardiac arrest. He was 54.

Anand, who had started out as a photojournalist, joined cinematographer P.C. Sreeram as his assistant and worked on several films with him. He made his debut as a cinematographer with the Malayalam film Thenmavin Kombath starring Mohanlal, and went on to crank the camera for films in Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi. His first film won him the National Film Award for Cinematography.

While he turned director in 2005 with the film Kanaa Kanden, it was his 2009 film Ayan, starring Suriya, which went on to become a huge commercial success, and brought him into the spotlight as a director. Anand then went on to direct films with actors like Suriya, Dhanush, and Vijay Sethupathi as leads.

As a cinematographer, Anand had last collaborated with director Shankar for the Rajinikanth-starrer Sivaji. Rajinikanth said that he was shocked and saddened to learn about Anand’s death, and extended his condolences to Anand’s family.

Anand had once said that cinematography and photography were extremely close to his heart. In a past interview to The Hindu, he said “Cinematography and photography is my thing. Direction is a temporary detour in my career.”