'RAW' has been highly challenging film:Tapan Basu

New Delhi:After getting laudatory reviews for his work in the who-dun-it 'Kahaani 2', cinematographer Tapan Basu is now being praised  for his camerawork in his latest film 'Romeo Akbar Walter'.  Basu, who got a lot of critical acclaim for brilliantly capturing the narrative in 'Kahaani 2', says working on 'Romeo Akbar and Walter' was extremely challenging for him.

"Romeo Akbar Walter was extremely challenging for me as a cinematographer. The film required me to do extensive preparations. For me , the greatest challenge was to keep the look consistent as the film has been shot in over 14 cities and 114 locations,''Basu told UNI in an interview.

Giving an example, he said a chase sequence in the film was shot in three different cities.  "The chase is shot in three different cities and also in the reverse order as we were travelling from one city to another. The end was shot first, then middle in some other city later and the beginning later in some other city. It was an extremely challenging task to keep track of the continuity especially in outdoor and matching it with all other cities,''he said.

He thanked the director Robbie Grewal for giving him full support during the making of the film.

"I would like to thank my director Robbie for his support during the making of the film. As a director, he gave me a lot of freedom ,''Basu said.

As a film, Basu says 'RAW' is very close to his heart. Infact, he says working on the film was a memorable experience for him."RAW is a film very close to my heart. As a child , I wanted to either be in the army or the secret service. Seeing the film come alive on screen has been very emotional and exciting. Also, as the Director of photography, this film allowed me to create a certain look and feel as the movie is set in the 70s,''he says.  

Basu said as a cinematographer he always looking to something challenging."As a cinematographer, my motto is to learn something new with each of my films . In this sense, working on 'RAW' , which belongs to a totally different genre compared to 'Kahaani 2' , has been quite exciting. With each of my films, I have been looking to ensure that I do justice to the narrative of the film,''he says.

'Romeo Akbar Walter', which hit screens on April 5, has  John Abraham play an Indianespionage agent who goes undercover in Pakistan before and during the 1971 war.Based on true events, the film sees John Abraham's character adopt several disguises to carry out his assignment. 

The undercover operative travels from India to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and then to the rest of Pakistan through Nepal. The film was shot in Mumbai, Nepal and Kashmir. Around 11 cities in Gujarat, including Junagadh, stood in for Pakistan.

The story of an Indian spy being sent to Pakistan on an undercover mission has evoked comparisons to Meghna Gulzar's 2018 blockbuster 'Raazi', starring Alia Bhatt. 

'RAW' also features Jackie Shroff, Mouni Roy, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi, Sikandar Kher, Raghubir Yadav and Anil George.(UNI)