Preetha Jayaraman is an Indian cinematographer. She is the niece of famous cinematographer P. C. Sreeram. Jayaraman is a gold medallist from the Film and Television Institute in Chennai and holds a Master's degree from Bond University, Australia. She is one of the first four women to be inducted into the Indian Society of Cinematographers. She is also a member of the South Indian Cinematographer's Association (SICA) and the Indian Women's Cinematographer's Collective (IWCC).[1]
Early life and education
Jayaraman earned a gold medal from the Film and Television Institute (FTI) in Chennai.[2] She began her career at age 18 as an assistant to P. C. Sreeram, working with him for five years before pursuing further education.[3] She later completed a Master's degree in Film and Television from Bond University in Australia (2000-2001), during which she received an internship with Warner Brothers during the production of Scooby-Doo (2002).[4]
Career
After completing her master's degree, Jayaraman returned to India and shot her first feature film, Knock Knock, I'm Looking to Marry (2003), in English. She came to prominence with her work on Abhiyum Naanum (2008), a Tamil family drama directed by Radha Mohan and produced by Prakash Raj.[5][6] The film was awarded Best Film by the Tamil Nadu state government for the year 2008. Jayaraman has worked extensively across multiple Indian film industries, shooting features in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Malayalam, and English. She frequently collaborates with actor-director Prakash Raj, having worked on his trilingual film Un Samayal Arayil (2014), also released as Ulavacharu Biryani in Telugu and Oggarane in Kannada.[7] She later shot Raj's Hindi directorial debut Tadka (2022). Her notable works include Vaanam Kottatum (2020), produced by Madras Talkies, Hey Sinamika (2022) in Tamil, and Dhoomam (2023) in Malayalam. In 2025, she worked as one of three cinematographers on the coming-of-age drama Bad Girl, directed by Varsha Bharath, which premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.[8] Beyond feature films, Jayaraman has extensive experience shooting television commercials, music videos, short films, and documentaries. Her commercial work includes campaigns for major brands such as ICICI Bank, Britannia, Titan, and Apple. She shot the popular music video "Teri Deewani" (2007) for singer Kailash Kher.[9]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Language | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Knock Knock, I'm Looking to Marry | English | |
| 2007 | Kannamoochi Yenada | Tamil | |
| 2008 | Abhiyum Naanum | Tamil | |
| 2009 | Aakasamantha | Telugu | |
| 2011 | Aidondla Aidu | Kannada | 1 of 5 cinematographers |
| 2013 | Gouravam | Tamil Telugu |
|
| 2014 | Ulavacharu Biryani Un Samayal Arayil Oggarane |
Telugu Tamil Kannada |
|
| 2015 | Boxer | Kannada | |
| 2019 | The Fakir of Venice | Hindi | [10] |
| Aadi Lakshmi Puraana | Kannada | [11] | |
| 2020 | Vaanam Kottatum | Tamil | [12] |
| 2021 | Hey Sinamika | Tamil | |
| Badava Rascal | Kannada | ||
| 2022 | Tadka | Hindi | |
| 2023 | Dhoomam | Malayalam | |
| Baanadariyalli | Kannada | Story writer [13] | |
| 2025 | Bad Girl | Tamil | Cinematography alongside Jagadeesh Ravi and Prince Anderson[14] |
Awards and recognition
| Year | Award | Category | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Karnataka State Award | Excellence in Cinematography | Won | |
| 2019 | Wonder Women Awards[15] | Best Cinematography | Won | |
| 2020 | Inspirational Global Woman Award | Cinematography | Won | |
| 2021 | JFW Movie Awards[16] | Best Cinematographer | Vaanam Kottatum | Won |
References
- ^ "Preetha Jayaraman Biography". IMDb. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
- ^ "Preetha Jayaraman". Indian Women Cinematographer Collective. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
- ^ "Bio". Preetha Jayaraman Official Website. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
- ^ "Kannada Cinematographer Preetha Jeyaraman Biography". NETTV4U. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
- ^ "Snap, click, roll". Retrieved 16 October 2016.
- ^ "She set out with a passion to experiment new angles". The Hindu. 4 January 2009. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
- ^ "Preetha: It was a new experience shooting a food film". Rediff. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
- ^ "Bad Girl". International Film Festival Rotterdam. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
- ^ "Kannada Cinematographer Preetha Jeyaraman Biography". NETTV4U. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
- ^ Sunayana Suresh (29 May 2017). "Cinematographer Preetha Jayaraman heads to Bollywood". The Times of India. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- ^ Shilpa Sebastian R (15 November 2019). "Woman in a man's world: 'Vaanam Kottatum' cinematographer Preetha Jayaraman". The Hindu. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- ^ "Watch: Mani Ratnam's 'Vaanam Kottattum' teaser showcases intense family drama". The Hindu. 8 January 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- ^ "Ganesh-Preetham Gubbi's film titled 'Baanadariyalli'". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
- ^ "Bad Girl". International Film Festival Rotterdam. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
- ^ Prakash Upadhyaya (21 October 2019). "From Vijay's wife to Ajith's Viswasam director, Rashmika Mandanna to Keerthy Suresh, celebs galore at WW Awards". International Business Times. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- ^ "In pics: Aishwarya Rajesh, Aparna Balamurali, Dhee and many others win JFW Awards". The News Minute. 18 March 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
