Rajiv Menon

Rajiv Menon photographed four of Mani Ratnam's most visually distinctive films — Thiruda Thiruda, Bombay, Alaipayuthey, and Guru. His work on Bombay, with its handheld urgency during the riot sequences and its tender domestic light in the love story, demonstrated a rare ability to shift registers within a single film. In Alaipayuthey, he brought a bright, airy quality that matched the film's modern sensibility — Chennai had never looked this alive on screen. Menon later became a director himself, but his cinematographic work with Mani Ratnam remains among the most celebrated in Tamil cinema. He also co-directed segments of the anthology Putham Pudhu Kaalai under Mani Ratnam's production banner.