Ramayana cinematographer Pankaj Kumar on chasing sunlight and building a world of Gods

Cinematographer Pankaj Kumar has mastered low-key mood. His visuals have a piercing ability, whether it is to capture the rapturous decay of an individual’s sanity amid the beguiling snow of a turbulent valley in Haider or the moral ambiguities residing in the lifeless rooms of a Delhi house in Talvar. World-building is at the centre of his work, seen most strikingly in the shadowed brilliance of Tumbbad, where the dynamism of his images led to a devastating horror extravaganza. Barring his work in Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva, Pankaj has largely worked with realism to extend a lasting sense of palpability to scenes. That’s why it is curious to see him change gears for Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana, the two-part mythological spectacle built on a stellar scale starring Ranbir Kapoor, Yash and Sai Pallavi in the lead. Here, the horizons have widened, and grandeur is the norm.

Pankaj admits feeling intimidated initially. “It was going to be a bigger film than I had ever done before. But at the same time, its ambition was seductive,” he says, ahead of the film’s release on November 5.