B. R. Vijayalakshmi

B. R. Vijayalakshmi
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Cinematographer, screenwriter, director
Spouse(s)	S. Sunil Kumar
Parent(s)	B. R. Panthulu (father)

B. R. Vijayalakshmi is an Indian cinematographer. She started her career as an assistant to cinematographer Ashok Kumar and made her feature film debut in 1985 through the Tamil film Chinna Veedu. Known for being Asia's first woman cinematographer, Vijayalakshmi has worked in 22 feature films. In addition to her film career, she has also worked on many Television series.

Vijayalakshmi was born to B. R. Panthulu, a director and producer in South Indian films. Her brother B.R. Ravishankar is a film-maker in Kannada cinema. She worked as an interior designer before entering into films. Vijayalakshmi was interested in pursuing a cinematography course in a film school, but was persuaded by cinematographer Ashok Kumar who took her as a camera assistant citing that practical experience would give more exposure to her. She joined Ashok Kumar in the 1980 Tamil film Nenjathai Killathe and continued to work under him for nearly 30 films over a period of three years. During this time she did "Clash work" for films such as Kai Kodukkum Kai (1984) and Pillai Nila (1985).

Vijayalakshmi got her break as an independent cinematographer through K. Bhagyaraj's Chinna Veedu in 1985. The film made her Asia's first woman cinematographer. Between 1985 and 1995, she worked in about 22 films including Aruvadai Naal (1986), Sirai Paravai (1987) and Iniya Uravu Poothathu (1987) for directors like C. V. Sridhar and G. M. Kumar. She also wrote the script for Sangeeth Sivan's Malayalam film Daddy (1992). In 1995, she made her directorial debut through Paattu Padava for which she also wrote the script and handled the cinematography. The film was screened at the International Film Festival of India in 1996 and it was well known for the songs tuned by Ilaiyaraaja.

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