Decoding the visuals of Ram Charan’s ‘Peddi’ with colourist Andreas Brueckl

Andreas Brueckl, German colourist and visual consultant with over two decades of experience in cinema and advertising across five countries, has now made Hyderabad his home. Watching him at work is akin to watching an artist enhancing every frame the audience sees on screen. “This is how I paint,” he says, as he shows frames of the Telugu film Peddi, at various stages of colour grading. He, cinematographer R Rathnavelu and director Buchi Babu Sana have had several discussions about the film’s visual aesthetics. Andreas explains, “Around 80% of the work is done while filming; only then can I enhance it to match our collective vision. It is always a collaborative process with an aim to raise the benchmark for visuals in Indian cinema.” Inside the ANR Sound & Vision post production arm at Annapurna Studios , Andreas demonstrates how colour grading can ensure that the audience’s attention stays on the narrative. Consider the pre-intermission sequence in Peddi at a railway station, which eventually sets Ram Charan’s character on a journey to fight for his identity. Zones of darkness convey the grim reality of the villagers while pockets of light guide viewers’ attention to the unfolding drama.