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I think it has a 90 per cent chance of winning the award. It has our culture and sensitivity, and the characters and actors are awesome.

Flying high: A scene from ‘Ekalavya’;

Ace cinematographer and actor-by-accident Nutty is a very happy man. For, ‘Eklavya,’ directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and shot by him, has been selected to represent the Indian film industry at the Oscars.

The controversy over its selection notwithstanding, Nutty thinks ‘Eklavya’ has a good chance of striking it rich.

“I don’t know what films will be there, but I think it has a 90 per cent chance of winning the award. It has our culture and sensitivity, and the characters and actors are awesome.” Also, it needs to be remembered that Vidhu Vinod Chopra has already represented India at the prestigious awards twice earlier, once for his short non-fiction film ‘An encounter with faces’ in 1980 and then again for ‘Parinda’ in 1989.

“I feel very happy that I was part of the project. I am honoured to have worked with two legends of Indian cinema – Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Amitabh Bachchan,” he says.

Many though felt that ‘Eklavya’ was the wrong choice, and that ‘Black Friday,’ which was again shot by him and directed by Anurag Kashyap, stood a better chance at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which gives out the Oscars.

“I feel sorry that ‘Black Friday’ was not sent for consideration to the jury. It is a very different kind of film; it had a very different kind of script and we worked on a different treatment,” he says. But asked to choose which among them he likes more, he just smiles and says, “Every film has its own flavour.”

Cinematographer Nutty on a helicopter during the shoot of ’Eklavya.’

On a different note, he has almost finished work on ‘Chakraviyugam,’ his second movie as actor. “I play the role of a driver working for a call centre. The story is about four people hounding a girl, played by Daisy Bopanna, who works in the call centre, and how she comes out of it.” Even though he is playing the lead role in the movie, Nutty thinks “the hero of the movie is the story, by director Mahesh.”

His first movie, ‘Naalai,’ again directed by Mahesh, was released last year to good reviews and did good business, encouraging him to take up acting as a parallel career.

‘Chakraviyugam’ is likely to be released early next year, but Nutty is already committed to acting in two more films. “I am doing Mahesh’s next and also scriptwriter Sabapathy’s debut film.” Sabapathy is a well-known scriptwriter in Mumbai, and has worked on films such as ‘Yahaan,’ directed by adfilm maker Shoojit Sarkar.

Nutty’s latest release as cinematographer was the Shahid-Kareena starrer ‘Jab We Met,’ directed by Imtiaz Ali. The movie is on its way to becoming a hit.

Though he finished work on the film some time ago, Nutty is still raving about the film. “It is the finest and most realistic love story. Not the regular Hindi love story, not a plastic love story. I think Imtiaz Ali is one of the finest writer-directors in the industry.”

It will be followed by ‘Halla Bol,’ which is likely to have a mid-November release. “It has Rajkumar Santoshi’s magic and fantastic work by Ajay Devgan and Pankaj Kapoor, who I think are gifts to Indian cinema.”

Talking about the movie, he says, “A celebrity [played by Ajay Devgan] witnesses an incident. The movie is about how his life changes after that.”

And ‘Chakraviyugam’ might follow just after that. The way things are going, it looks as if he will have a release a month, either as a cinematographer or as an actor. No wonder he has no dates to give anyone, not even to his parents to get him married.

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