Standard Biography:

 

Revealing a specific situation within a time frame has always been instinctual for an artist… the medium the select to show it differs. Ranjith Kumar’s works exemplifies it through his depictions of our world through various media. It all started from a remote village of Kerala with his birth and later on bought up in Tamilnadu, imbibing the cultural milieu of these strongly ideological and emotional states in India.

Ranjith Kumar started his artistic career as a painter then turned to photography & design, and later to cinema. He travelled widely in India and United Arab Emirates to study, sketch and photograph the signs of cultural heritage, architecture, traditional and historic places and people. He has exhibited paintings & photographs in many famous galleries in India and abroad. He was a lover of films since his childhood days and the numerous world classics he watched really cast a spell on him and his passion for cinema led him to become a film maker. A keen lover of world classic films and a film society activist, he attended several film festivals all over in India and abroad. 

As a film maker, Ranjith Kumar’s style is eclectic. His films depict the complex intertwining of the different strands that shape the lives of individuals in a poetic, simple yet relaxed style, they reflect a profound humanism. He confidently combines social themes with poignant authenticity through striking visual elements. His films are deliberately paced cutting together long takes, often of static medium and long shots, allowing the viewer to pause and experience another’s life, thereby avoiding the distortional imposition of classical continuity editing of the film.

His style includes long takes with scarce but significant camera movements and sophisticated sense of visuals. His cinematography work has won best cinematographer awards for his creative & outstanding work based on his skill in capturing natural light, setting up poetic frames, different angles and dynamic movements. He makes low, but script demanding budget, scientifically well designed, planned & scheduled minimalist films with a cast of amateur and promising actors & technicians. Ranjith Kumar has a unique style of capturing the visuals in a way that blurs the thin line between painting and photography.

Major Projects & Work Experience:

  • With more than 17 years of creative experience in the media field, Ranjith Kumar has scripted, cinematographed & directed short films, documentaries, public awareness spot films, music video albums and video documentation works for voluntary organizations etc. Apart from the above major works he has also done cinematography for other individual’s projects like music video albums, short films and corporate videos in various part of India.
  • He has done several photography, brand & identity design, visual aid graphic design & interactive multimedia presentations for individuals, corporate companies & voluntary organisations in India and abroad.
  • Media & communication project for L’Arche FMR India on the gifts and challenges of persons with intellectual disabilities. (Scripted, cinematographed & directed documentary films, public awareness spot films, designed & produced, visual aid presentations, souvenirs etc.)
  • Associated with the making of a Documentary Film and the publication of an exclusive Encyclopedia Reference Book on Cultural Heritage of Keralam in German language together with Christof (Eminent Painter & Photographer) and Mrs. Renate Hass (Film maker and Authoress) both are from Ms. Multikulture Network, Germany.
  • Worked as an ‘Editorial Assistant’ for a Multimedia DVD ROM project (75 years of Malayalam Cinema) by Kerala State Chalachithra Academy with the technical collaboration of C-dit, Thiruvanathapuram and distributed by Malayala Manorama.
  • Worked as a ‘Research Associate’ in two Multimedia DVD ROM projects “KERALA CD Rom” (Interactive Encyclopedia CD ROM on Keralam) & “MT yude Lokam” (interactive Multimedia Collection on literary legend and Gyanpith laureate of our times, Sri. M. T. Vasudevan Nair) by Malayala Manorama, one of the largest media organizations in the country.
  • Media Resource Person & Communication Incharge in L’Arche FMR India.
  • ‘Media & Communication Consultant’ in Sri Vast Center, an International Center for Ecology and Spiritual Studies Auroville, Pondichery, Tamilnadu.
  • ‘Media Resource Person’ of Punnakai Matha Thottam Trust, Chennai.
  • Worked as a ‘Programme Producer’ in Middle East Television, Dubai.

Exhibitions & Camps:

 1994    : Participated in Kala Mela organised by National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.

1994    : Group Exhibition in Easel Art Gallery, Madras.

1995    : Group Exhibition in Smyuktha Art Gallery Bangalore.

1998    : Group Exhibition in Emirates Fine Art Society, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

1999    : Group Exhibition in Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

2000    : Solo Exhibition in Kerala Lalit Kala Academy, Calicut, Kerala.

2001    : Solo Exhibition in Palakkad, Kerala. 

Collections: 

  • National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.
  • Emirates Fine Art Society, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
  • Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
  • Many private and corporate collections in India and abroad.
  • Published paintings & photographs in magazines and publications in India and abroad.

 

Fun Biography:

 

born KERALAM bought up TAMILNADU & KERALAM learned TAMIL & MALAYALAM studied in four SCHOOLS started seeing things through the SPECTACLES in HIGH SCHOOL dropout from COLLEGE learning to PAINT started reading BOOKS learned COMPUTER dos, basic, cobol, dbase, foxbase, wordstar, spread sheet BLA, BLA one COMPUTER many PEOPLE went for searching job in BANGALORE learned to make holes in the WALL with an ELECTRICIAN painful JOB worked serving food in HOTEL learned ENGLISH & little KANNADA learned COOKING went to CHENNAI worked as ACCOUNTANT & INTERIOR DESIGNER saw FILM SHOOTING very boring WORK learned YOGA & MEDITATION became an ORGAN DONOUR started serious PAINTING attended EXHIBITIONS & CAMPS serving for FMR INDIA (a centre for persons with intellectual disabilities) got back issues of SIGHT & SOUND, BLACK BOOK & AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER from a street BOOK SHOP started searching the meaning of MOVING IMAGES membership in MAX MUELLER BHAVAN & AMERICAN CENTRE LIBRARY learning SITAR (hindustani music instrument) from CHANDRAMOHAN (chennai) saved a life from SUICIDE ATTEMPT (new delhi) learned the basics of PHOTOGRAPHY from JURY AHLFORS (finland) learned to swim in the SEA walking through the SEASHORE like NOMAD went to BENGAL SEA for swimming in the MID NIGHT the waves brought me back with LIFE opened my eyes to the GREAT MORNING holding a FISHERMAN’S HAND watching the UFO moving in the DARK SKY really CONFUSED & LOST went to DUBAI started searching for a job under the VERY HOT SUN worked as an ACCOUNTANT bought my first camera YASHIKA 109 MP roaming around in UAE with the camera on FRIDAYS discovered EXPATIATION depicted LIGHT & SHADOW with ILFORD b&w FILM membership in EFAS SHARJAH (emirates fine arts society, sharjah, uae) photographed CART RACING became MAD MOVIE FAN when I watched WHERE IS THE FRIENDS HOME (abbas kiarostami – iran-) at DUBAI married to RAJANI millennium marriage (1st January 2000) life is RESPONSIBLE resigned JOB bought my second camera PENTAX Z1P learned to shoot MOVING IMAGES captured first film into a soap box like VIDEO CAMERA (hariyude sangeetham, a narrow naked path, mallippoo etc. – year 2000) learn film making by PRACTICING losing money in experimental FILM MAKING met my guru SARATHCHANDRAN (late – activist, documentary film maker) joined in the part of FILM SOCIETY MOVEMENT learned to make PROBLEMS in ADOBE PHOTOSHOP, ILLUSTRATOR & InDESIGN brilliant solutions need brilliant PROBLEMS brand, identity, strategy, promotions, campaigns BIG HEAD ACHE but it will give you BREAD & CREATIVE FREEDOM survival by DESIGN, PHOTOGRAPHY & CINEMATOGRAPHY great learning experience FILM APPRECIATION COURSE discovered KERALAM with CHRISTOF & RENATE HASS (from germany – research & documentation project) daughter born GEETHANJALI worked for TELEVISION CHANNEL (producer) decided to work as a FREELANCER take a break in PHOTOGRAPHY bought my first video camera SONY FX1-E learned to cut and join the VISUALS; known as EDITING a narrow escape from a dangerous road ACCIDENT still ALIVE replaced LIGAMENT in the right KNEE associated with ROAD SAFETY CAMPAINS film is slowly DISAPPEARING but i still have all the old films SAFELY coming back to PHOTOGRAPHY joined in the part of HDSLR REVOLUTION doing EXPERIMENTS in the making of custom made own CAMERA SUPPORTING EQUIPMENTS learned INTROVERTING stay away from the CROWD do my WORK live SIMPLE & GREEN eat, drink & sleep CINEMA get INSPIRED explore & learn NEW THINGS meditate & lose yourself into the sound of SILENCE and there I AM…