ASHOK MEHTA

Born: c. 1947, Punjab, India.

Career: 'Ashok Mehta was 14 when he ran away from home in Delhi and became a hawker's flunkey in Mumbai [Bombay] selling boiled eggs. In 1963 he moved on to sell watermelon slices, and on a holiday he saw a film shoot in a studio in Dadar. Hooked, he joined as a canteen boy at Asha Studio in Chembur and later became an office boy at R.K. Studios. He slowly started filling in for absentee studio hands and soon became familiar with sets, lights, etc. The next step ahead was when he became camera attendant and soon learnt his way around the camera. He became c.asst at Srikrishna Films and got his first break as a cinematographer at the age of 25 in Raj Marbros' 'The Witness'. He credits his actual career boost to the reigning star of the 70's, Shashi Kapoor. Kapoor, who was starring in a film being shot by Mehta, was greatly impressed by his work and even though the film did not get made eventually, it won Mehta the favor of Kapoor, who offered him his next production, '36 Chowringhee Lane'. Soon after, Mehta was noticed by the leading filmmakers of the parallel cinema movement that was in its prime at the time and was flooded with film offers. The next step for Mehta was to establish himself in mainstream cinema and this opportunity came through actress Rakhee. It was during the filming of 'Paroma' that Rakhee got acquainted with Mehta and his work, but it was years later when Subhash Ghai, leading director of the popular film scene, was on the lookout for a cameraman for his mega-project 'Ram Lakhan', that she suggested the name of Mehta. Ashok Mehta then stepped onto the popular film scene and with the collaboration of Ghai, brought to popular cinema an altogether different style of lighting and shot taking.' [From articles and interviews by Renu Bhatnagar, a.o.]

Ph 800+ commercials.

Awards: Bengal Film Journalists' Award [197?] for 'Lal Kothi'; National Film Awards 'Silver Lotus Award' [1982] for '36 Chowringhee Lane'; Screen Weekly Award [1995] for 'Trimurti'; National Film Awards 'Silver Lotus Award' [2001] & Screen Weekly Award nom [2002] for 'Moksha'.

Website: Ashok Mehta

FILMS

1969	Trishna [?] ?; cph: Sudarshan Nag
*1972*	*The Witness* [Raj Marbros] ?; unreleased
1972	Trisandhya [Raj Marbros] b&w-c
1975	Kabhi Dhoop Kabhi Chhaon/Sun and Shade [Basu Bhattacharya] c
1975	Daaku/Daku/The Bandit [Basu Bhattacharya] c
1977	Bhumika [Shyam Benegal] c
1978	Humare Tumhare/Hamaare Tumhare [Umesh Mehra] c
1978	Lal Kothi [Ashish Roy] c
197?	Teesra Pathhar [?] ?
1980	Kalyug/The Machine Age [Shyam Benegal] c; co-addph; ph: Govind Nihalani
1980	Cobra [Batra Mohinder] c
*1980*	*Nirvana* [Jalal Agha] ?; filmed 1980-83; unreleased
1981	36 Chowringhee Lane [Aparna Sen] c
1982	Jawalaa Dahej Ki [Chaman Nillay] c
1982	Mandi/Marketplace [Shyam Benegal] c; 160m
1983	Utsav/The Festival [Girish Karnad] c
1984	Paroma/Parama/The Ultimate Woman [Aparna Sen] c
1984	Andar Baahar/Andar Bahar [Raj N. Sippy] c
1984	Bandh Honth [Raj Marbros] ?
1985	Susman/The Essence [Shyam Benegal] c; 130m
1985	Shiva Ka Insaaf [Raj N. Sippy] 3D/c
1985	Trikal: (Past, Present, Future) [Shyam Benegal] c; 139m
1985	Mirch Masala/Spices/A Touch of Spice [Ketan Mehta] c
1986	Zindagani [Prabhat Roy] c
1987	Ijaazat/Guest [Sampooran Singh Gulzar] c; + small part
1988	Oonch Neech Beech [Wasi Khan] c; cph: Hari Roy
1989	Sati/Widow Burning [Aparna Sen] c
1989	Ram Lakhan/Ram and Lakhan [Subhash Ghai] c
1990	Raiszaada/Raeeszada [Bharat Kapoor] c
1990	Saudagar/The Trader [Subhash Ghai] c; 205m
1992	Mujhse Dosti Karoge?/Come, Let Us Be Friends [Gopi Desai] c; children's film
1993	Khal Nayak/The Villain [Subhash Ghai] c
1993	1942: A Love Story [Vidhu Vinod Chopra] c; cph add shooting & crowd seq; ph: Binod Pradhan
1994	Bandit Queen/Phoolan Devi [Shekhar Kapur] c; addph: Gilles Nuttgens
1995	The Making of the Mahatma/Apprenticeship of a Mahatma/Gandhi Se Mahatma Tak [Shyam Benegal] c; 144m
1995	Droh Kaal [Govind Nihalani] c
1995	Trimurti [Mukul Sudheswar Anand] scope/c; 187m; 2uc: Rajeev Jain
1996	Pukar [Rajkumar Santoshi] c; cph: Baba Azmi & Santosh Sivan
1996	Tara Rum Pum Pum [Shekhar Kapur] ?
1996	Gupt: The Hidden Truth [Rajiv Rai] tvi/c; 2uc: Rajeev Jain
1997	Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar [Jabbar Patel] c; 191m
1998	Gaja Gamini [Maqbool Fida Husain] scope/c; 140m; cph: Shaina Nath
2001	Moksha/Salvation [Ashok Mehta] b&w-c; + co- prod/story
2001	Aankhen/All the Best [Vipul Amrutlal Shah] scope/c; 2 parts: 89m & 76m
2002	Dil Ka Rishta/Heart of Gold [Naresh Malhotra] scope/c; 2 parts: 69m & 80m
2002	Chalte Chalte [Aziz Mirza] scope/c; 2 parts: 81m & 84m; addph: Rajeev Jain
2004	Kisna: The Warrior Poet/Kisna: Beyond Love [Subhash Ghai] scope/c; 170m; international version 'Kisna: Beyond Love' runs 100m
2004	Waqt: The Race Against Time [Vipul Amrutlal Shah] scope/c; cph: Santosh Thundiiayil
2004	Family: Ties of Blood [Rajkumar Santoshi] scope/b&w-c
2005	No Entry [Anees Bazmee] c; 158m
2005	God Tussi Great Ho/God You Are Great [Rumi Jaffery] c; addph: Aseem Bajaj
2006	I See You [Vivek Agrawal] scope/c
2006	Meridian Lines [Venod Mitra] c

MISCELLANEOUS

1982

Vijeta/Conquest [Govind Nihalani] co-c.op battle seq; ph: G. Nihalani

FILMS AS DIRECTOR

2001	Moksha/Salvation [co-prod/story/dir/ph] see Films
2001	24 Hours [feature] announced for 2001-02