Ramachandra Babu Age, Death, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Full name	Kunjan Ramachandra Babu
Profession	Cinematographer
Famous for	Being one of the renowned cinematographers in the Malayalam film industry
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 173 cm in meters- 1.73 m in feet & inches- 5’ 8”
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Salt and Pepper (semi-bald)
Career
Debut as a cinematographer	Malayalam Film: Vidhyarthikale Ithile Ithile (1971) Tamil Film: Agraharathil Kazhuthai (1977) Telugu Film: Tholireyi Gadichindi (1977)
Last Film	Ven Shankhu Pol (2011)
Awards	Kerala State Awards • Best Cinematography Award for the film Dweepu in 1976 • Best Cinematography Award for the film Rathinirvedam in 1978 • Best Cinematography Award for the film Chamaram in 1980 • Best Cinematography Award for the film Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha in 1989 Other Awards • Kerala Film Critics Association Award in the Best Cinematography category for the film Nidra in 1981 • Lifetime Achievement Award from the Southern India Cinematographers Association (SICA) for his contributions to the film industry • Kerala Film Critics Association Award in the Best Cinematography category for the film Kadaksham in 2009 • Kerala Film Critics Chalachitra Pratibha Award for his contributions to the film industry in 2017
Personal Life
Date of Birth	15 December 1947 (Monday)
Birthplace	Maduranthakam, Chengalpattu District, Madras Presidency, British India (now Tamil Nadu, India)
Date of Death	21 December 2019
Place of Death	Kozhikode
Age (at the time of death)	72 Years
Death Cause	Cardiac arrest [1]The Hindu
Zodiac sign	Sagittarius
Signature
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Thiruvananthapuram
College/University	• Loyola College, Chennai • Film Institute of India, Poona (now Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune) [2]Indian Society of Cinematographers
Educational Qualification(s)	• B.Sc (Chemistry) • Diploma in Cinema (Motion Picture Photography) [3]Indian Society of Cinematographers
Religion	Hinduism
Caste	Pillai
Hobbies	• Reading • Painting
Relationships & More
Marital Status (at the time of death)	Married
Marriage Date	Year, 1982
Family
Wife/Spouse	K. Lathika Rani Note: Wife's image in the children's section
Children	Son(s)- 2 • Abhishek R. Babu • Abhilash R. Babu
Parents	Father- Kunjan Pillai Mother- Padmini Amma Note: Parents' image in the siblings section
Siblings	Brother(s)- 4 • Ravi K. Chandran (cinematographer, director) Sister(s)- 2 Names not known
Other relatives	Nephew- Santhana Krishnan Ravichandran (cinematographer)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Ramachandra Babu

• Ramachandra Babu was a topper in school who got double promotions more than once and finished school when he was 14 years old.

• His parents were from Alappuzha in Kerala and settled in Marudanthakam in Tamil Nadu.

• He considered various career options such as paper technology or chartered accountancy, but instead opted for motion picture photography at the Film Institute of India in Pune because of his interest in photography.

• The photo he took of his brother jumping from a low wall was his first published picture, which came in the Tamil Magazine, Kalki. This photo was also submitted for his FTII admissions.
  

  Ramachandra Babu’s first published photo

• Some of his batchmates at the Film Institute were Jaya Bhaduri (now Jaya Bachchan), Danny Denzongpa, K. G. George, and Ravi Menon.

• Ramachandra Babu was a passionate reader, painter, poet, and blogger.
  

  One of Ramachandra Babu’s paintings

• He started his career as a cinematographer for the film Vidhyarthikale Ithile Ithile (1971) during the third year of his FTII course. The director, John Abraham, was his senior at FTII.

• His first shot was a close-up shot of actress Jayabharathi, who expressed concerns about his lighting techniques but was very happy to see the results.

• He had a close friendship with director K. G. George. He was the cinematographer for George’s directorial debut, Swapnadanam (1976).
  

  Ramachandra Babu during the shoot of the film Swapnadanam

• Ramachandra Babu’s first colour film was Dweepu (1977).

• He liked technology and was part of various technical advancements in cinematography in the Malayalam film industry during the four decades of his career.
• He developed a platform for short film creation named Cineku, a name inspired by Haiku, a genre of short poems.

• He was the first to start working with the cinemascope film for the film Alauddinum Albhutha Vilakkum. However, the credit of the first cinemascope film in South India was lost to another film as its release got delayed.

• He was the cinematographer of Padayottam (1982), the first 70mm film in Malayalam.
  

  Ramachandra Babu with the 70mm film equipment

• Some of the popular Malayalam films for which he has done the cinematography are Rathinirvedam (1978), Chamaram (1980), and Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha (1989).

• Some of the popular Tamil films for which he has done the cinematography are Ore Vaanam Ore Bhoomi (1979), Paadum Vaanampadi (1985), and Pagal Nilavu (1985).

• He was the founding member of the Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC).

• He was the cinematographer of the English language film Beyond the Soul (2002) and the Arabic film Al-Boom (2006).

• He was the cinematographer for over 130 films in different languages.

• His book, Celluloid Swapnatakan, was an autobiography of his cinematography career and was published by Mathrubhumi Publication in December 2019.
  

  The cover page of Ramachandra Babu’s book

• It was during a location hunt in Kozhikode for his directorial debut, a 3-D film, Professor Dinkan, that he passed away due to cardiac arrest. He was cremated with full State honours at the electric crematorium Santhi Kavadam at Thycaud.  ^[4]The Hindu
  

  Ramachandra Babu with Dileep on the sets of Professor Dinkan