The mysterious death of a young National Film Award-winning cinematographer

Saravanamarathu Soundarapandian’s older sister still has prizes that her brother won when he was a child – erasers, pencils, keychains. “He had been a prize-winner throughout his life,” Maruthavalli told Scroll.

But Saravanamarathu did not take home his latest honour – the National Film Award for cinematography for his short film Little Wings, announced in August.

Saravanamarathu was murdered in March 2023, when he was 31. He set out from his house in Madurai on March 15 on Maruthavalli’s two-wheeler and never returned. After a fortnight, his buried body was discovered by the police in an area called Keeranur, about two hours away from his home.

Three men were held for his murder. Local media reported police versions of the motivations for the killing, which involved a romantic relationship in which Mani was allegedly involved. But the family told Scroll that they had not heard of the relationship. Police officials declined share a copy of the first information report with Scroll over email or text message.

The announcement of the award, which Saravanamarathu shared with Meenakshi Soman, his former classmate at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute in Kolkata, was a grim reminder of the loss to his family and friends and colleagues – a loss of a loved one as well as a...

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