Santosh Sivan

"The visual language has always been very interesting because it made you travel, it gave you a license to see the whole world. The journey makes your experience." - Santosh Sivan

Santosh Sivan, born on February 8, 1964 in Trivandrum (Kerala, India), is a multi-talented Indian professional famous for his contributions as a cinematographer, film director, producer and actor across Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi cinema. A founding member of the Indian Society of Cinematographers (I.S.C) in 1995, he is the most awarded cinematographer in India and  the only cinematographer member of the prestigious American Society of Cinematographers (A.S.C).

As a child, Santosh Sivan was attracted to visual arts very soon and his grandmother encouraged him to sketch at an early age. His father - the great photojournalist, portraitist, set photographer, director and cinematographer of documentary films is the well-known Sivasankaran Nai (Sivan). He initiated him when he was very little to the magic of the lenses and cameras. Sivan was still in secondary school when he directed his first film in Super 8.

After his studies at the Loyola College and the Mar Ivanios College Santosh Sivan entered the Film and Television Institute of India located in the city of Pune. He graduated in 1984. He directed several documentaries in 1980 and he worked for the first time as a cinematographer on the film Raakh by Aditya Bhattacharya. Critics immediately praised his work and he became one of the most renowned Indian cinematographers, working on the photography of more than forty films in the 90s, notably for the well-known Indian directors such as Mani Ratnam (Thalapathi, 1991; Roja, 1992; Iruvar, 1997 and Dil Se, 1998 - which earned him several awards), Priyadarshan (Gardish, 1993 and Kaalapani, 1996), Ajayan (Perumthachan, 1991), Shaji N. Karun (Vanaprastham, 1999) or later on, Gurinder Chadha (Bride & Prejudice, 2004), director who considers him the best Indian cinematographer. Internationally, he made his talents as a director of photography known thanks to the film The Mistress of Spices by Paul Mayeda Berges (UK, 2005).

His directorial debut happened in 1988 with the film The Story of Tiblu, a short black and white documentary for which he received his first National Award (Indian equivalent of the Academy Award) and in 1996, he shot his first fiction film, Halo, winner of the National Award for Best Film. In 1998, The Terrorist, his second film, was crowned with the National Award for Best Tamil Film. Presented at the Cairo International Film festival, it won the Best Director Award and the Golden Pyramid for Best Film. Actor John Malkovich, who was part of the jury, loved the film so much that he decided to release it himself in the United States, instantly highlighting Santosh Sivan's work both nationally and internationally. In 2001, he directed his third film, Asoka and won several awards for direction of photography.

Considering directing as a natural extension of cinematography, Santosh Sivan decided in 2008 to solely work on his own films, making a few exceptions, notably for Mani Ratnam’s films. In 2017, Lies we tellby Mitu Misra gave him the opportunity to shoot with Gabriel Byrne and Harvey Keitel.

Landscapes are important characters in his films. The state of Kerala where he grew up, with its vibrant colors and diverse cultural fabric, left a lifelong impression on Santosh Sivan and continues to feature in his work till the present day. He prefers to shoot during the golden hour and restricts use of kino fills in his shots. Since his beginnings, the sun, a source of pure light, natural light has been Santosh Sivan's strength. Thalapathi (1991) is a good example of this: he captured this light by “taming” the climatic conditions, whether it was rain, sun, snow or clouds. He used spontaneity and great technical mastery to translate the essence of change through the seasons and time.

The second area where his work stands out is the close up. He studies the face like it is its own landscape and this is where sketching helps; “If you start sketching someone, then you look into people with much more detail in them”. He finds those stunning expressions that bring out the right emotional impact. Iruvar (1997) and Dil Se (1998) drew immense praise for their cinematography because they merged Santosh Sivan’s love for landscapes and close-ups into a cohesive whole.

He likes to work with non-professional actors and children (Halo, Tahaan, Malli and Navarasa), because he finds them more credible. In the 90’s, he used the backlight with his actors. Today, his lightning has become subtler, more realistic, especially on his own films, which are high contrast and naturalistic. He strives to ensure that its actors do not wear makeup, or at least as little as possible.

Moreover, Santosh Sivan was awarded the Padma Shri in 2014 by the Government of India. It is a civilian award conferred in recognition of "distinguished contribution in various spheres of activity including the arts, education, industry, literature, science, acting, medicine, social service and public affairs".

Festival de Cannes