If you have loved the grittiness of the world of power, politics and phishing in Jamtara Season 2 as well as its vast wide-angle landscape shots, here’s the man who’s conjured these atmospherics — Sayak Bhattacharya. The director of photography for Season 2 of the Netflix series, Sayak is a Howrah boy who believes that to be a cinematographer one needs to have the passion to tell stories and translate them into visuals.

The Telegraph Online caught up with Sayak on his journey from Kolkata to Mumbai, his work experience in the Arshad Warsi-starrer web series Asur, the challenges he faced during the Jamtara Season 2 shoot and his favourite moments from the Netflix show.

How did the journey from Howrah to Mumbai happen?

Sayak Bhattacharya: I finished studying at SRFTI (Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute), Kolkata, in 2009. After that, I went to Mumbai. In 2010, I started assisting my seniors and other DoPs. Then, I got an opportunity to work with Anil Mehta (renowned cinematographer) and Rockstar (Imitiaz Ali directorial starring Ranbir Kapoor) was my project with him. That’s how I continued to work for the next two to three years.

Thereafter, independent work started coming in. I did a couple of Hindi films such as Dear Maya, which marked Manisha Koirala’s comeback. It didn’t do well but Imtiaz watched the film and that’s how I got Laila Majnu (starring Avinash Tiwary and Tripti Dimri), which is directed by his brother Sajid Ali. Then, the OTT space happened gradually and work started flowing in. After a few not-so-well-done series, I did Asur and then Jamtara Season 2.

What kind of reaction are you getting to Jamtara Season 2?

Sayak Bhattacharya: A lot of people told me that they have watched in one go or a maximum of two sittings. So far, it’s a well-received show.

Asur and Jamtara are very different from each other in terms of context and content...

Sayak Bhattacharya: Yes, Asur is a bit on the virtues of good versus evil and the qualities of human beings, whereas Jamtara is more raw and real.

You were not part of the successful Jamtara Season 1. For any hit show, there is always pressure to deliver more in the next season. What kind of a burden was on your shoulders?

Sayak Bhattacharya: I experienced a bit of pressure because I was supposed to shoot Asur Season 2 next. And, when the offer for Jamtara Season 2 came to me, Asur Season 2 was in the writing stage, so it was already a pressure to not take up Asur and pick Jamtara. In addition, there was extra stress about having a well-acclaimed first season, but I was very excited.

Jamtara Season 2 creates a world where phishing is a medium to gain power in politics. What was the brief from director Soumendra Padhi?

Sayak Bhattacharya: Jamtara Season 2 is grand and elaborate in terms of character arc and storyline. There is a whole power equation between money and politics. It’s a bit violent as well, so we wanted to make it a bit dark, moody and gritty. We discussed how we could play with shadow and make it more real and raw.

In Jamtara Season 2, the wide-angle landscape shots look magnificent. Also, the huge banyan tree almost plays a part in the storyline…

Sayak Bhattacharya: (Cuts in) Yes, it was all in the script. The big banyan tree, which we showed, was part of the script as well. We shot in a place near Wai in Maharashtra. We figured out the location based on the script. We found a tree almost in the middle of nowhere, and with nothing around. There was a long stretch of road, away from the village. It looked like nobody came there.

The idea was to show the vastness. We wanted to show that in the middle of nowhere, the kids were learning phishing. Landscape shots were a break from the village scenes, the place of action. We also wanted to show that children go away from their houses to learn phishing at some hidden place, which is out of daily activities. We wanted the audience to figure out all these things. (Smiles)

The shoot was stalled because of the Covid second wave. What were the other obstacles in shooting with an ensemble cast?

Sayak Bhattacharya: Yes, the shoot got stuck because of the pandemic and then when we resumed, monsoons had started. It rains a lot in Maharashtra, so we had to move to Lucknow to shoot the village scenes, where it rained but it stopped for a bit in the middle for a few days. The weather wasn’t on our side. For instance, we had a hard time shooting one of the important scenes with Rocky (Anshuman Pushkar) and Rinku (Ravee Chahar), which we shot in Wai near a temple ghat area. Every time we laid the track to shoot, it rained; so we had to set up a couple of times.

Then, when we did the recce for Brajesh Bhan’s (Amit Sial) house, we liked it. There was a lawn with a big compound behind but when we went back to shoot, it was monsoon-end. The lawn was muddy with no grass on it. A lot of scenes were planned but then the production team had to come up with other ideas. As our shoot dates got postponed and actors had other projects, the schedule got haywire. It got hectic and difficult in terms of rescheduling the actors’ dates. In total, we shot for close to 85 days.

If you have to pick your favourite moment from Jamtara Season 2, what would you choose?

Sayak Bhattacharya: It’s very difficult to say! (Smiles) There are many and there are a few, which I feel, could have done better. Rinku’s character was a high point as he has an interesting arc. Rinku comes from Noida, goes around as someone not having land, and then slowly becomes an integral character inthe show. Through him, I had the opportunity to show both city and village life and an amount of opulence later. Also, Rocky’s death scene is another, which we discussed a lot before shooting.

As you shoot advertisement commercials, how was your experience of working with Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif Ali Khan?

Sayak Bhattacharya: Saif and Kareena were very friendly and accommodating. It was very easy to work with them. They understand how I want to look at it and were willing to help. I also shot a small ad with Samantha Ruth Prabhu but as we were on a tight schedule, we didn’t get an opportunity to interact much.

The cinematographer’s profession is burdensome. What would be your suggestion for budding ones?

Sayak Bhattacharya: One needs to have the passion to tell stories. This is a craft, which is a bit personal. It’s not something that one can do, only to earn money. There must be a personal drive. This profession is demanding, both physically and mentally. One needs to be prepared to work longer hours.

Who or what inspires you?

Sayak Bhattacharya: There are a lot of people. When you nurture a form of craft or art, anything can inspire you. What is important is how you mould the inspiration into your work, how you look at what you want to achieve, and what drives you. I always try to think about how a story can be translated into visuals. It’s not that I always get inspired by another cinematographer or photographer’s work. It can be an architectural work or maybe a sound or maybe a written word somewhere.

What’s next for you?

Sayak Bhattacharya: Besides other projects, I have worked on Suman Mukhopadhyay’s Putul Nacher Itikatha, which stars Abir Chatterjee, Parambrata Chattopadhyay and Jaya Ahsan. It’s my first Bengali film. I had worked on Q’s Ludo a long time ago.