1999

SANTOSH SIVAN ISC

Born: ?, Thiruvananthapuram [also known by its anglicized name Trivandrum], Kerala, India, as the son of a doc filmmaker.

Education: Loyola School, Trivandrum; Mar Ivanios College, Trivandrum; Film and Television Institute of India, Pune [graduated in 1984].

Career: Ph music videos.

Founding member of the Indian Society of Cinematographers [ISC] in December 1995.

Formed the prod company 'HandMade Films' with Sunil Doshi.

Also active as director [see below]. His brothers Sanjiv and Sangeeth are film dir.

The prod of 'Asoka' was documented in the book 'The Making of Asoka - A Santosh Sivan Picture' written by Mushtaq Shiekh.

Awards: As doph: National Award 'Best Cinematography' [1990] for 'Perumthachan' & 'Mohiniyattam'; Filmfare Award [1995] for 'Barsaat'; Filmfare Award [1998] for 'Dil Se'; Filmfare Award [2001] & International Indian Film Academy 'Award for Technical Excellence' [2002] for 'Asoka'; Screen Weekly 'Screen' Award [2005] & Zee Cine Technical Award nom [2005] for 'Meenaxi: Tale of 3 Cities'.

As dir: Cairo IFF 'Best Director' [1998], Chicago International Children's FF 'Adult's Jury Award' 2nd place [1999] & Independent Spirit Award 'Best Foreign Film' nom [2001] for 'Malli'; Seattle IFF 'Emerging Masters Showcase Award' [2000]; Ale Kino! – International Young Audience FF 'Poznan Goat' for 'Best Director' [2000] & Sarajevo FF 'Panorama Jury Award' Honorable Mention [2000] for 'The Terrorist'; Filmfare Award 'Best Director' & 'Best Film' nom [2002] & Screen Weekly 'Screen' Award nom [2002] for 'Asoka'.

Website: Santosh Sivan

Santosh Sivan on 'The Terrorist': 'The film is made on a very low budget, in fact, nothing at all. And it is all acted by purely non-professionals. I want to make films that are very real, even though I make my bread and butter shooting commercial musical films, but when I want to make a film, I want to make it as real and as interesting as possible. So I have made it without those entertainment elements like fights, songs and all that, so you can do what you want. That freedom I get only when we make such films on a small budget, and say something. [...] I'm a professional cinematographer. It was filmed in 17 days, that's all we took. It was done in Madras. And a little bit in Kerala. I studied film. I'm very well known as a cinematographer. I made one film before, for children. Now I'm making another film for children. I wanted to do this film, so I said, I'll make a very serious film. I want to make quite a few more films, on my terms, which I will definitely get around to making.' [From interview with David Walsh on the World Socialist Web Site, October 1998.]

FILMS

1987	Oru Maymasappularayil [V.R. Gopinath] c; 151m
1988	The Story of Tiblu [Santosh Sivan] ?; short/?m
1988	Kandathum Kettathum [Balachandra Menon] ?
1988	Kadal Theerathu/On the Seashore [T. Rajeevnath] c
1988	David David Mr. David [Viji Thampi] ?
1989	Raakh/Ashes [Aditya Bhattacharya] c; 153m
1989	No: 20 Madras Mail [Joshi] c; 177m; cph: Anandakuttan & Jayanan Vincent
1989	New Year [Viji Thampi] ?
1989	Midhya [I.V. Sasi] c
1989	Kaalal Pada [Viji Thampi] ?
1990	Vyooham/Vyuham [Sangeeth Sivan] c
1990	Varthamana Kalam [I.V. Sasi] c
1990	Indrajalam [Thampi Kannathanam] ?
1990	Doctor Pasupathy [Shaji Kailas] c
1990	Mohiniyattam [Santosh Sivan (?)] c; dance doc/?m
1990	Perunthachan/The Master Carpenter [Ajayan] c
1990	Sunday 7.P.M. [Shaji Kailas] ?
1991	Abhayam/Shelter [Sangeeth Sivan] ?
1991	Thalapathi/Dal-pati [Mani Ratnam] c
1991	Indira [Nripen Mohla] c
1992	Daddy [Sangeeth Sivan] c
1992	Aham [T. Rajeevnath] c
1992	Yodha/Ashokan/Dharam Yodha [Sangeeth Sivan] c
1992	Roja/The Rose [Mani Ratnam] scope/c
1993	Gandharvam [Sangeeth Sivan] c; 155m
1993	Rudaali/The Mourner [Kalpana Lazmi] c; cph: Dharam Gulati
1993	Gardish [Priyadarshan] c
1993	Johny [Sangeeth Sivan] ?
1994	Pavithram [Rajeev Kumar] c
1995	Nirnnayam [Sangeeth Sivan] c; 165m
1995	Barsaat [Rajkumar Santoshi] c
1995	Indira/Priyanka [Suhasini Mani Ratnam] c; 143m
1995	Kalaa Paani/Kalapani/Saza-E-Kala Pani/Sirai Chaalai [Priyadarshan] c
1996	Pukar/The Call [Rajkumar Santoshi] c; cph: Baba Azmi & Ashok Mehta
1996	Iruvar/Iddaru/The Duo [Mani Ratnam] b&w-c; 140m & 118m
1996	Darmiyan [Kalpana Lazmi] c
1997	Aastha/Aastha in the Prison of Spring [Basu Bhattacharya] c; cph: Khokon Bhaduri
1997	Halo [Santosh Sivan] c; + scrpl
1997	The Terrorist/Theeviravaathi [Santosh Sivan] c: + co-scrpl
1997	Vaanaprastham/Vanaprastham/The Last Dance/Pilgrimage [Shaji Karun] scope/c; cph: Renato Berta
1998	Dil Se.../Prema Tho/Uyire/From the Heart [Mani Ratnam] s35/c; 163m
1999	Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani [Aziz Mirza] c
1999	Malli [Santosh Sivan] c
1999	Fiza [Khalid Mohamed] scope/b&w-c
2000	Marudha Naayagam [Kamala Haasan] c
2001	Asoka/Ashoka the Great [Santosh Sivan; assoc dir: Vishnu Vardhan] Hawk Scope/c; director's cut (158m) & producer's version (180m); + co-scrpl
2002	Tehzeeb [Khalid Mohamed] scope/c; 143m
2003	Bride and Prejudice - A Bollywood Musical [Gurinder Chadha] scope/c; aph: Adam Dale
2003	Meenaxi: Tale of 3 Cities [M.F. Hussain; assoc dir: Owais Hussain] c
2003	Prithvi [Santosh Sivan] first project of HandMade Films; status unknown
2004	Aparichithan/The Stranger [Sanjiv Sivan] c
2004	Silsiilay [Khalid Mohamed] c; 134m; collab doph: Aseem Bajaj
2005	The Mistress of Spices [Paul Mayeda Berges] c
2005	Navarasa/Nine Emotions [Santosh Sivan] c; + co-prod/scrpl; prod HandMade Films
2005	Anandabhadram [Santosh Sivan] c; 130m; assoc ph: Manoj Pillai
2006	Before the Rains/Road to the Sky [Santosh Sivan] c; 2uc: Alphonse Roy
2007	Prarambha/The Beginning [Santosh Sivan] scope/c; short/14m; ep of 4-part series on AIDS awareness; other ep: 'Migration' dir by Mira Nair, 'Blood Brothers' dir by Vishal Bhardwaj & 'Positive' dir by Farhan Akhtar; prod Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

"Tahaan"

2007	Tahaan [- a boy with a grenade] [Santosh Sivan] scope/c; + co-scrpl
2008	Raavanan [Mani Ratnam] scope/c; Tamil-language version; cph: V. Manikandan (replaced by S. Sivan); also Hindi-language version 'Raavan'; filmed 2008-09
2009	Pehla Sitara [Owais Husain] c; filmed 2009-10
2010	Tatvä - Nature's Elements [Santosh Sivan] HD (Sony PMW-F3)/c; promotional short/3m11s; cph: Alphonse Roy & Anjuli Shukla; prod for Sony Electronics Asia Pacific Pte Ltd.
2010	Urumi [: The Warriors Who Wanted to Kill Vasco Da Gama] [Santosh Sivan] HD (Canon EOS 5D)+?-to-?/c; 160m; + co-prod; also Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and English versions

FILMS AS DIRECTOR

1988	The Story of Tiblu [short; + ph] see Films
1990	Mohiniyattam [doc; + ph] see Films
1997	Halo [children's film; + scrpl/ph] see Films
1997	The Terrorist/Theeviravaathi [+ co-scrpl/ph] see Films
1999	Malli [children's film; + ph] see Films
2001	Asoka/Ashoka the Great [+ co-scrpl/ph] see Films
2003	Prithvi [+ ph] see Films
2005	Navarasa/Nine Emotions [+ ph] see Films

[Middle] dir "Anandabhadram"

2005	Anandabhadram [+ ph] see Films
2006	Before the Rains/Road to the Sky [+ ph] see Films
2007	Prarambha/The Beginning [short; + ph] see Films
2007	Wedding Party [feature for BBC Films] announced
2007	Tahaan [+ co-scrpl/ph] see Films
2010	Tatvä - Nature's Elements [short; + cph] see Films
2010	Urumi [: The Warriors Who Wanted to Kill Vasco Da Gama] [+ co-prod/ph] see Films

MISCELLANEOUS

1998	Kuch Kuch Hota Hai/Something Is Happening [Karan Johar] co-thanks; ph: Santosh Thundiiayil
2009	Makaramanju [Lenin Rajendran; feature] actor (as Raja Ravi Varma); ph: Madhu Ambat; filmed 2009 & July 2010