Santosh Sivan

Santosh Sivan ISC (born 8 February 1964) is an Indian cinematographer, film director, producer and actor known for his works in Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi cinema. Santosh graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India and has, to date, completed 55 feature films and 50 documentaries. He is regarded as one of India's finest and best cinematographers. He is the recipient of the Pierre Angénieux Excellens in Cinematography, twelve National Film Awards, six Filmfare Awards, four Kerala State Film Awards, and three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.

Santosh, a founding member of the Indian Society of Cinematographers and the most awarded Director of Photography in India, graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India and completed 45 feature films and 41 documentaries.

As a director, Santosh won his first National Award 1988 for the Story of Tiblu (1988). His film Halo was honoured at the 43rd National Film Awards as the Best Children's Film and Best Sound.

Santosh became the first cinematographer in the Asia-Pacific region to join the American Society of Cinematographers. As a cinematographer, he has won five National Film Awards – including four for Best Feature Film Cinematography. As of 2014, he has received eleven National Film Awards, and 21 international awards for his works. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2014 for his contributions to Indian cinema.

In an interview, he said that some films he chose, not mostly because of the story but due to the very fact that he was comfortable with the director, a bigger pay check and out of friendship.

His 2007 release Prarambha won the National Film Award for Best Educational/Motivational/Instructional Film at the 55th National Film Awards.

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