Madhu Ambat

Biography:

Madhu Ambat was born to Prof. K. Bhagyanath and Smt. Ambat Sulochana on March 6, 1949. The Ambat family was a remarkable set of people, with a father who left his position as a professor to devote his full time to magic and a sister who developed into a superb actor. In addition, Vidhubala, his younger sister, rose to prominence as an actress in the Malayalam cinema industry. Mr. Ambat was fortunate to have a family who thought he deserved to love what he did during a period when everyone was focused on getting into top institutions and obtaining well-paying professions as quickly as possible. Therefore, he visited the renowned Pune Film Institute against great pressure. He put up the utmost effort during the ensuing years, and in the end, it paid off when he won the institute’s gold medal. However, this was just the beginning. With a documentary for renowned filmmaker Ramu Kariat, Madhu Ambat launched his 120-film cinematography career in 1973. The 35 years that followed were chock-full of outstanding successes and honours, including Kerala Film Critics’ Awards and National Awards. His extraordinary success didn’t end here, though. His abilities were acknowledged on a global scale. M., known for “Sixth Sense,” worked with him on two feature films, one of which was titled “Wide Awake.” He collaborated with filmmakers like Timothy Fodder, Rajkumar Santhoshi, Jennifer Lynch, and Salim Ahamed.

In addition to numerous state prizes, he three times won the National Film Award for Best Cinematography. In 1984, the G V Iyer-directed Sanskrit film “Adi Sankaracharya” won him his first National Award for Best Cinematography. He received it a second time in 2006’s Tamil movie “Sringaram,” which was directed by Saradha Ramanathan. In 2010, Salim Ahmad’s Malayalam film “Adaminte Makan Abu” earned him the award for the third time. He and his family reside in Chennai, and he has received accolades from practically everyone in the movie business. He founded the nonprofit Fantasia Centre for Research and Development of Cinema, which works to increase public understanding of films and their culture.