Sreeram received his diploma in motion picture photography from the Madras Film Institute in 1979 , and made his cinematic debut in the early 1980s . One of his earlier works , '' Meendum Oru Kaathal Kathai '' ( 1985 ) , won the Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director in 1984 . Following a few commercially unsuccessful releases , he worked with Mani Ratnam for the first time in '' Mouna Ragam '' ( 1986 ) . The film gave a much needed breakthrough for both of them . Following the film 's success , the pair went on to work in '' Nayagan '' ( 1987 ) . The film went on to win three National Film Awards at the 35th National Film Awards ; Sreeram was awarded that year 's National Film Award . He used new techniques in the camera for their next film '' Agni Natchathiram '' and was praised very much for his work . Sreeram shot all of Ratnam 's films until Geethanjali ( 1989 film ) ( 1989 ) . The film was both critically acclaimed and commercially successful besides winning the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and seven Nandi Awardsincluding the Best Story and Best Cinematography awards for Ratnam and Sreeram , respectively
35th National Film Awards
35th National Film Awards
P. C. Sreeram