Shekhar Kapoor Remembers Peter Pereira

Cinematographer  Peter  Pereira  who passed  away  on 10 January created  magic on screen from behind the screen. He  shot  six  of  Manmohan  Desai’s biggest blockbusters beginning with Sachcha Jhutha  in 1970, followed  by Aa Gale  Lag Jaa, Amar Akbar Anthony , Desh  Premee, Coolie, Mard .

Manmohan  Desai considered Peter to be indispensable to his cinema. “Amitabh,  Laxmikant-Pyarelal and Peter are the three kingpins of my cinema. I would be  lost  without them.”

Peter’s piece de resistance  was Shekhar Kapoor’s Mr India in which Peter  not only did  the cinematography but also the  special effects.

Shekhar recalls Peter:  “He was  a gentle genius. Patient. Always innovative. Constantly coming up with solutions. Mr India still stands tall  as a spectacular visual effects film. And that too  from long before we had sophisticated digital visual effects .Remember the scene where the kid and Mr India first discover the invisibility bracelet ?That scene required three passes of the film negative in the same frame ! It was the most patient and careful work I’ve ever seen on camera.”