Meet Anant Jain

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Anant Jain. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Anant , really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

I was severely dyslexic as a child, 9,p,b,and q all these letters and numbers appeared the same to me. I could never draw a ‘5’ till I was eight years old, ascending and descending order questions frightened me. So obviously school and math were a difficult place. I ended up spending a lot of my time by myself, often with a sketchbook.

Sketching became an escape, escape from the boring classes. The tree outside, the couple standing under it, and all the distractions out of the four walls of the classroom were my subjects. I have always been super observant, thanks to how less I used to speak and how much more I used to listen.

At the age of ten, photography came into my world through my dad’s old film camera. I started taking pictures on it without thinking of the reel coming to an end. It was a pretty liberating experience, I had a purpose to take a few walks, interact with people through it. My parents were always super supportive, and I did get a camera for myself soon. I was pretty regular at street photography, spending a lot of time reading up about Magnum photographers I dreamt of becoming one. I remember being in awe of Robert Capa’s work and how strongly I wanted to become a war photographer! Then came in the sensibilities and self realisation.

I remember watching the movie ‘Whiplash’ at the age of 16 and deciding that I wanted to become a cinematographer. I think it was the hunger in that character that spoke to me, and obviously how well it was shot made me think of pursuing a career as a cinematographer. Works of a lesser known Indian legend SNS Sastry inspired me, his documentary work with the Films Division was so strong, something so original and ‘Indian’. I think it was that Indian voice that I saw in some great minds that inspired me to look for my purpose. Amit Dutta’s work has left a permanent mark on me, his film ‘Kramasha’ was a beautiful piece.

The purpose of my practice as a cinematographer is to find that original voice, to tell stories that people remember, and to never rest till the end.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

Working as a freelancer in the film/visual media world you end up wearing multiple hats, but I introduce myself as a cinematographer, which is what I love being the most. After completing my Masters’s in 2023 specialising in Cinematography from Goldsmiths University of London I decided to move back home which is Mumbai. Exiting the bubble that a film school is; real world comes to you as quite a shock. From feeling super confident one goes back to the bottom of the food chain. I have always had a restless bug in me which never lets me sit idle.

Things started to get better slowly, one day I got a call from someone and they said “there is an international team of creatives working on a campaign in India, the shoot is going to be of total five days are you available on these dates?.” on asking more about the project they would not tell me anything because there was a strict NDA. I thought it was some sort of a scam and I ignored them for a few days. It is quite funny when I think about it now. I ended up getting a call from TBWA and that is when I realised what was happening. They told me that Mackenzie Sheppard wants to meet me! I had seen some of his work and I could not believe what was happening. Next thing I know I was on a recce with people I looked up to. I was shooting what I believe is world’s biggest brand’s first India centric laptop commercial called ‘Work is Worth it’. Jeremy Snell was the main DOP on it and was the best guide/collaborator a fresher could ask for. I had the best time shooting with Kai Sandy, Mackenzie and Jeremy, we were a super fun and motivated team.

What I love the most about being a cinematographer is that I get to bring written ideas into reality, I am on my feet for 12 hours in the day solving problems, running, lifting heavy cameras, and at the same time keeping my brain active. It is the most rewarding feeling to be tired at the end of the day, getting everything I wanted. A good shoot day is like winning a football match, all my physical pain or hunger goes away when I get a good shot. Those who ask me what is it that a cinematographer does? Well they all strive to make you feel what the script wanted you to feel, our aim is to become invisible with our work. A short five minute sunset scene might take us a whole day to shoot, but we make it look like the sunset throughout the day, we enable aim to enable the editor to stitch a seamless experience together.

A producer/director recently asked me if I have a strong visual style which is uniquely me, thinking more about it I realised that I don’t. I don’t think I want someone to look at two films of mine and know that it was shot by the same person. Marrying the script and it’s vision is what I believe in, each creative breathes different. Coming from the world of photography, keeping the camera stationary comes naturally to me; however I also enjoy running with the camera following the actor!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Growing up dyslexic, school life was not easy at all. Indian schools aren’t really supportive towards students who don’t score good grades or perform well in sports. I was made to believe that I was good for nothing. I would for most of my early years in school sit with my sketchbook and draw through the math and science classes.

Creating things was my escape, it became my identity. It was from then on persistence and practice is what drives me everyday. In a way it is the fire to prove someone wrong. I have this undeterred drive in me that believes in getting things done. I have always put in the extra effort into making something out of reach happen.

The film world does have a lot of toxic people in it, the hierarchy is often rubbed into fresher’s faces, it can be mentally challenging and have a negative impact on the output. I quickly realised that the show of power dynamics and toxic behaviour is something I will never use as a crutch to be taken seriously. Leading a team of people who are working hard towards achieving your vision is a great privilege to have, respecting the team and having a calm composure is the way to go.

A solid pre production process also goes a long way, asking questions to your director is something super important. Whenever I am on set I am in the mode of executing it all in time, long creative discussions can often derail things on sets.

Coming from photography composition is something that comes instinctively to me, it is a good practice to head out with your camera to just brush up on that.

You don’t want to come off as “difficult to work with”, so I make it a point that I am considerate enough to solve problems in an efficient way.

Having a good showreel is super important when you are starting off, everyone will ask you “what have you done in the past?”, it is understandable that all productions want to minimise risks but sometimes it is a bit insane with what they demand from you to be considered for a job. If I reach out to a producer who is putting together a team to shoot a travel show, then there are chances that he might expect me to have a bank of travel related work done in the past. If they are sensible enough, I could convince them with my other work saying, “I might not have done exactly what you are asking for, but reading the pitch deck I can understand; this work of mine reflects the necessary skills for the project”. So maybe having a general showreel with different style of work can help, you should also focus on creating separate reels specific to a genre as your bank of work develops.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

While the last year was all about commercials and money, this year I aim to strike a balance between work for bread and work for the soul. I am reaching out to more directors and producers for narrative work or music videos, essentially work with texture, work that speaks to me and others. Last year I shot my first narrative feature film as well, made me realise I equally enjoy a marathon that feature filmmaking is. I was mentee in the Indian Society of Cinematographer’s mentorship programme that taught me more about the nature of narrative filmmaking.

I wish to collaborate with people who have a story to tell, have got the courage to find resources to tell it with me. As a cinematographer my collaboration isn’t at surface level, I always aim to make it look right in the given resources and not just make it look pretty. A few themes I really resonate with are; migration, solitude in multitude, the outcasts, magic realism, extraordinary happening to the ordinary and minimalistic/slice of life love stories.

When it comes to ads I really enjoy shooting energetic and raw things with texture and movement, or anything out of the ordinary!

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Grace Louey, Rahul Shirke

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Resilience
Where does your optimism come from?

Optimism is the invisible ingredient that powers so much of the incredible progress in society

Confidence
Stories of Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

Learning from one another is what BoldJourney is all about. Below, we’ve shared stories and

Resilience
The Power of Persistence: Overcoming Haters and Doubters

Having hates is an inevitable part of any bold journey – everyone who has made