Of Brawn And Might

A glimpse into the life voyage of RAJIV MENON, the legendary cinematographer, focussed producer, staunch director, experimenting actor and passionate educator

- Anisha Gakhar

Sitting in his quaint Chennai office last month, I felt a sense of inspiration surging through my veins whilst conversing with the veteran cinematographer turned-director, Rajiv Menon. The multi-award winner is a simpleton at heart with an insatiable quench for knowledge, and believes that learning never ends. His charismatic personality surfaced through his wit, intelligence and a never dying zeal for his work. The passion and enthusiasm oozed manifold during his photo shoot, owing to his patience and eagerness to pose for the pictures! With a career spanning over three decades, Rajiv Menon has been a stalwart in the media industry.

THE KICK-START

Menon was born in Kochi, Kerala, to the popular Malayalam and Tamil film playback singer, Kalyani Menon. His father was a naval officer, because of which Menon got the opportunity to live in various naval bases of the country, and attend many naval schools throughout his childhood. The Menon family eventually shifted to Chennai, and Rajiv completed the rest of his schooling there. At an age as tender as his then, he was always fascinated by science and technology; which made him quiz everything happening around him. He recalled, “Those were the days when quizzes were purely visual. They’d show us a picture of a Western classical painting and we as kids, had to identify the same. Generally, not many people can look at a painting at identify the painter – say this could be Picasso and that could be Da Vinci? Exactly this curiosity proved catalyst in getting people attracted to art. This is how I started feeling a passion towards art forms, even though I was a science student.”