Chota K. Naidu

Chota K. Naidu (born 1962) is an Indian cinematographer, best known for his distinct style of cinematography for films like, Matru Devo Bhava, Choodalani Vundi, and Kotha Bangaru Lokam. Naidu is part of the Indian Society of Cinematographers, the South Indian Cinematographers Association and the Telugu Cinematographers Association. He received two state Nandi Awards for Anji, Kotha Bangaru Lokam and two Filmfare Awards South for Kotha Bangaru Lokam, Damarukam for his cinematography. His contributions to the Indian film and television industries as a Director of Photography (DOP) for Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi films, as well as in television, have been widely appreciated for over 30 years.

Early life
Naidu was born in Ramachandrapuram, East Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh. His father, Chitti Babu Naidu, was a writer and director of stage plays, while his mother, Ananthalakshmi, was a housewife. He has an elder sister, Padma Latha, an electronics engineer; an elder brother, K. V. S. Naidu, a mechanical engineer; a younger sister, Kanaka Durga, an electronics engineer; and a younger brother, Shyam K. Naidu, who is also a cinematographer in Telugu cinema Naidu attended SKPGN Government Junior College in Ramachandrapuram.

Despite being born into a family of engineers, Naidu spent much of his time watching films instead of focusing on his studies, resulting in his failure in the 10th standard exams. To gain more exposure to films, he worked as a gatekeeper at a nearby theatre. He failed his supplementary exams that year due to his continued interest in watching films. Recognizing his passion for cinema, his father, Chitti Babu Naidu, challenged him to pass his 10th standard exams, promising to help him enter the film industry if he succeeded. Naidu accepted the challenge, passed with good marks, and, as promised, his father secured him a position as a camera apprentice at Devar Films' outdoor unit in Chennai in 1979.

Later, Naidu joined the Taraka Prabhu outdoor unit under Dasari Narayana Rao and worked with top cinematographers throughout India during the 1980s as a focus puller. He was particularly inspired by Director of Photography V.S.R. Swamy, whom he admired for his discipline, dedication, and craft, considering Swamy his role model.

Career
Naidu's first opportunity as a DOP was for the telefilm Kristhu Jananam (1987) for DD Hyderabad Kendra which was directed by Bharath Parepalli and produced by P. Seetha Devi, who later went on to become his wife. From then onwards, he was continuously working for more regional and national television work and TV commercials, evolving his craftsmanship in the process.

Naidu's first movie as a cinematographer was Dasari Narayana Rao Amma Rajinama (1991). He collaborated with Dasari Narayana Rao for several other films such as Venkanna Babu, Surigadu, and Santaan. Some of the directors he collaborated with are E.V.V. Satyanarayana, for the films Varasudu, Maga Rayudu, Veedevadandi Babu and Maavidaakulu, Kranthi Kumar for Bhale Pellam, K. Raghavendra Rao for Allari Premikudu, Bombay Priyudu and Gangotri, Ramgopal Varma for Deyyam, Suresh Krissna for Master, Daddy, and Baba (Tamil), Satish Kaushik for Prem (Hindi), Gunasekhar for Choodalani Vundi, David Dhawan for Kunwara (Hindi), A.R. Murugadoss for Stalin, Trivikram Srinivas for Julai, and with V.V. Vinayak for Tagore, Bunny, Lakshmi, Krishna, Adhurs, Naayak and Alludu Seenu.

Style
Naidu received critical acclaim with his debut Kristhu Jananam, a telefilm dealing with the times of Jesus Christ, for the rich painting-like cinematography.

For Matru Devo Bhava, Naidu applied the chiaroscuro (extremely bright back light and top light to the point of burnout) and silhouette techniques to communicate predominantly a tragic content.

Varasudu was his first big commercial film. In the film, he adopted a commercial style of lighting and a fitting selection of the color palette to portray grandeur.

Personal life
His nephew Sundeep Kishan is a film actor.

Television

 * Appuchesi Pappukudu (DD Saptagiri)