He made his feature film debut in 1971 as a cinematographer even before completing his FTII course, for
Vidyarthikale Ithile Ithile.[5] It was also the debut film of director John Abraham and writer Azad. Ramachandra Babu became noted in the industry after he served as the cinematographer for
Nirmalyam (1973) and
Swapnadanam (1976), which were directorial debuts of
M.T. Vasudevan Nair and K.G. George, respectively. All these films were shot in
Black & White.
He played a prominent role in ushering in the technical advancements in cinematography into Malayalam cinema. The transition from Black & White to colour aside, he served as the cinematographer for the first
CinemaScope film to be shot in
South India, Alavuddinum Athbutha Vilakkum (1979), directed by
I. V. Sasi. Despite featuring major stars like
Kamal Haasan,
Rajinikanth and
Jayabharathi, the film was delayed and another CinemaScope film Thacholi Ambu (1978) was released ahead of it, leaving the latter to be considered as the first CinemaScope film in South India.[5][6] He was the cinematographer of the first film to be released with
70 mm film in Malayalam. The film, Padayottam (1982), directed by Jijo Punnoose, was from the production house of Thacholi Ambu,
Navodaya.[7] The film was photographed in CinemaScope format and was converted to 70 mm blow-up prints with 6-track magnetic
stereo sound during post-production.[8]
He made his feature film debut in 1971 as a cinematographer even before completing his FTII course, for
Vidyarthikale Ithile Ithile.[5] It was also the debut film of director John Abraham and writer Azad. Ramachandra Babu became noted in the industry after he served as the cinematographer for
Nirmalyam (1973) and
Swapnadanam (1976), which were directorial debuts of
M.T. Vasudevan Nair and K.G. George, respectively. All these films were shot in
Black & White.
He played a prominent role in ushering in the technical advancements in cinematography into Malayalam cinema. The transition from Black & White to colour aside, he served as the cinematographer for the first
CinemaScope film to be shot in
South India, Alavuddinum Athbutha Vilakkum (1979), directed by
I. V. Sasi. Despite featuring major stars like
Kamal Haasan,
Rajinikanth and
Jayabharathi, the film was delayed and another CinemaScope film Thacholi Ambu (1978) was released ahead of it, leaving the latter to be considered as the first CinemaScope film in South India.[5][6] He was the cinematographer of the first film to be released with
70 mm film in Malayalam. The film, Padayottam (1982), directed by Jijo Punnoose, was from the production house of Thacholi Ambu,
Navodaya.[7] The film was photographed in CinemaScope format and was converted to 70 mm blow-up prints with 6-track magnetic
stereo sound during post-production.[8]