Veteran violinist and jailed freedom fighter, V. K. Murthy had been Guru Dutt`s regular cameraman on his movies. V. K. Murthy provided some of Indian cinema`s most breathtaking images in spartanly contrasted black and white. He also has the credit of shooting India`s first cinemascope (75mm) movie, Kaagaz Ke Phool. He was awarded the IIFA Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony held at Amsterdam in 2005, for his contribution to Indian film industry.
V. K. Murthy was the hero behind the screen and the one who created attention-grabbing effects with his cinematography. This ace cinematographer from Bangalore was part of the genius Guru Dutt team. This stalwart was the cinematographer for one of the most celebrated Kannada movies Hoovu Hannu - a directorial production of Rajendra Singh Babu and incidentally, V. K. Murthy has acted in that film too.
In 1959, Guru Dutt`s Kaagaz Ke Phool, was appreciated the most for its supremacy in the aspect of cinematography. More than anything else, what it won the most tributes for was its cinematography that created incomparable history in the ground of cinematography. It was none other than V. K. Murthy who was credited for this magic and he even won a Filmfare Award for this film. V. K. Murthy repeated his excellent work in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam and received another award in the 1962 award. He did not prefer to work with any other directors as long as Guru Dutt was alive. Some of V. K. Murthy`s best work is found in Guru Dutt`s matchless movies like Pyaasa, Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam and Aar-Paar. V. K. Murthy then worked with Kamal Amrohi on his masterpiece, Pakeezah and Razia Sultana. Post Guru Dutt, he could not give any pinnacle work. In later years, he worked with other directors like Pramod Chakravarthy (Naya Zamana, Jugnu), Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani (Tamas). A biography of V.K.Murthy was written by Uma Rao in Kannada language and released in January 2006 at Bangalore. V. K. Murthy moved back to Bangalore from Mumbai in 2001 to lead a retired life.
Awards released by V. K. Murthy
| Filmfare Best Cinematographer Award - Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) |
IIFA Lifetime Achievement Award - Amsterdam, 2005 |
Filmfare Best Cinematographer Award - Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962) |
Selected Filmography of V. K. Murthy
| Deedar (1992) |
Pakeezah (1971) |
Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962) |
C.I.D. (1956) |
| Khule Aam (1992) |
Naya Zamana (1971) |
Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960) |
Mr. & Mrs. `55 (1955) |
| Kalyug Aur Ramayan (1987) |
Suraj (1966) |
Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) |
Aar-Paar (1954) |
| Nastik (1983) |
Love in Tokyo (1966) |
12 O`Clock (1958) |
Jaal (1952) |
| Jugnu (1973) |
Ziddi (1964) |
Pyaasa (1957) |
Baazi (1951) |
