Rajiv Menon

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Rajiv Menon (born in India) is a cinematographer and film director. He is known for directing the hit Tamil film Minsaara Kanavu (1996).

[edit] Early life

Born in Kerala, studying all over India, accompanying his father, a naval officer, who got transferred often, he joined the film school to study cinematography. Many ad films later, he started off as cinematographer for Mani Ratnam’s Bombay before directing Minsara Kanavu (Sapnay in Hindi) and Kandukondein…, apart from a few documentaries for Shyam Benegal and a short film for Girish Karnad.Falling in love with ad-making at a young age, Menon started his career in the field of ad-photography, and then went on to make a number of TV commercials. He first got national recognition with a commercial for Asian Paints. He has since produced ads for a number of other leading brands, including Airtel (the Rahman ad), Colgate, Palmolive, Titan and Raymonds.

[edit] Career

His versatality as a cinematographer has received much praise, and throughout his career, he has worked with accomplished filmmakers like Mani Ratnam (Bombay), Shyam Benegal and Girish Karnad (Cheluvi). His latest contribution has been the Shabana Azmi starrer Morning Raga (2004). He is set to work with Mani Ratnam again as cinematographer on his upcoming release Guru.

Menon’s first directorial venture Minsaara Kanavu was not only a popular hit but also fetched Prabhu Deva his first National Award for Choreography. Also, A R Rahman received National Award for Best Music. His second directorial venture was the multi-starrer Kandukondain Kandukondain. In addition to directing the film, he also penned the story and screenplay. The single from this movie Sandhana Thendril won singer Shankar Mahadevan his first National Award.

He has also setup Rajiv Menon Productions and Mindscreen, which supplies equipment for documentaries, advertising films and cinema.

It was in the Kendriya Vidyalaya on the IIT Madras campus that he did his schooling.