Aseem Mishra

Aseem Mishra is an ace cinematographer of the Bollywood industry. Young Aseem was born and brought up in Dhanbad, Jharkhand. His father L. M. Mishra worked in the Directorate of Mines Safety. He completed his matriculation from Kendriya Vidyalaya in 1988 and his graduation from Kirori Mal College, Delhi. He completed his Master’s in Cinematography from MCRC, Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi.

Studying cinematography was always a hidden ambition as the teen Aseem enjoyed watching the old classics at the Railway Club of Dhanbad. He was thoroughly impressed by the works of the Father of Indian cinematography, Satyajit Ray Biographies reveal bare details about the maverick >> Read More... and the lighting techniques of the Swedish cinematographer, Sven Nykvist.

Aseem has also revealed the names of some artists who have inspired him to an online channel Pandolin.com. Making to the list are painters like Picasso, Van Gogh, Marc Chagall, and Salvador Dali; photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Ansel Adams, and Man Ray; and cinematographers like Laszlo Kovacs, Gordon Willis, Vilmos Zsigmond and more. To add, the knack for detailing of Pablo Neruda and Michael Ondaatje has also made a lasting impression on him. However, his dream filmmaker is the evergreen, Ernst Ingmar Bergman.

Aseem Mishra began his behind-the-camera journey after passing out from MCRC by working with TV18. He was introduced to fiction in this company while working on a TV series called Bhanwar which was broadcasted on channel Sony. The show was well-received.

As revealed to The Quint, the period was crucial as he learned the technical skills and mastered them. Aseem who had not assisted any director before and purely worked on his gut instinct realized that his methods were coming to fruition and that a single source of light served him best.

Aseem owes this gut-instinct and his aesthetic sensibility to his documentary period. He shot some documentary films along with his senior Kabir Khan Kabir khan is a very much renowned director of Bol >> Read More... . They even worked with the senior journalist and filmmaker Saeed Naqvi.

Working on documentaries enforced his instincts, helped him understand the movement of the sun, movement of characters in an action movie, operating with long lenses, use of existing light versus artificial light - all these sensibilities later helped him in his career in Bollywood. 

Aseem’s first break to Bollywood was with Ram Gopal Varma’s Contract (2007). Although the movie didn’t fare well, Aseem got a phone call from his senior, Kabir Khan. Kabir was working on his film New York (2009) and wanted him on board. The director and the cinematographer just clicked like a pair of lock and key. They worked in all the movies made by Kabir – Ek Tha Tiger (2012), Bajrangi Bhaijan (2015) and Phantom (2015) – except his first film, Kabul Express (2006).

Aseem has worked with Salman Khan Salman Khan is a very famous Indian actor and a pr >> Read More... in two other films as well – Dabangg 2 (2012) and Tubelight (2017). It is very fascinating to note that Aseem and Salman are comfortable with each other’s working style and spent a sizeable amount of time talking about life and other things during the shoot of Bajrangi Bhaijan. And later, speaking to the Times of India, Aseem surprised readers with the fact that he and Salman connect over paintings as well.

Almost all the movies of Aseem have been great blockbusters at the box office or have been critically acclaimed. Other movies starring popular Bollywood faces, chronologically, are – Once Upon a Time In Mumbai (2010), Band Baaja Baraat (2010), Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster (2011), Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl (2011),  Paan Singh Tomar (2012), Gunday (2014), Karwaan (2017) – Filming, Untitled Sanjay Dutt Biopic (2018) - Pre Production, Sanghamitra (2018).

Aseem was nominated for Best Cinematography award by Guild Awards for Once Upon a Time in Mumbai (2011) and by Zee Cine Awards for Bajrangi Bhaijaan in 2016 and Tubelight in 2017.

Well, awards or not, Aseem Mishra has the signs of a genuine artist as he says: "To start with, I never take these things as challenges. To me, they're adventures. I love my work and I don't complain" and "I don’t take anything related to a film shoot or making as challenge. As long as I am enjoying it, there’s nothing called a challenge for me. I call these so-called challenging moments as interesting moments. You always learn something from these moments. "

For Aseem, the camera is paramount but more than that it is the joy of enjoying the process. For him anything and everything involving the colours of life is a joy – be it the natural landscapes or a photograph taken by an amateur – signs of an authentic artist, indeed.