FC-Ormax Power List of Technicians 2024: Pankaj Kumar

It was the cinema of Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky that inspired Pankaj Kumar to try his hand at first photography and then cinematography. His first feature film was Ship of Theseus and he has gone on to work on ambitious projects, using aesthetics to bring out the emotional and philosophical complexities of characters and stories in films like Haider, Tumbbad and Talvar. Intent upon creating imagery that feels richly authentic rather than carefully-constructed, Kumar uses locations and interiors to create moments that feel intense and impactful. He also showed his ability to adapt to the requirements of the small screen when he lensed Farzi and Guns & Gulaabs, both of which basked in the advantage of having a distinctive and striking visual language to draw in the audience’s attention.  

The Power List is NOT a ranking and is arranged alphabetically. For more information on the methodology, click here.