SANTOSH SIVAN

Continuing in the tradition of perceptive Cinematographers making it big as Directors, Santosh Sivan is creating visually arresting and thought-provoking cinema today.

This graduate from the Film and Television Institute of India drew international acclaim for his cinematographic work in Mani Ratnam's Roja.

Thalapathi, Indira and Iruvar (Tamil) were considered path-breaking cinematographic efforts. From the beautifully picturised song "Adi Rakkama Kaya Thattu" in Thalapathi to the "Acham Acham Illai" song in Indira to the sensitive picturisation in the quasi political Iruvar, Santosh Sivan established himself in a league of his own.

Rakh, Rudaali, Gardish, Darmiyan, Dil Se...(Hindi), Kalapani, Perumthachan (Malayalam) are his other films which have received rave reviews. Santosh Sivan has also bagged National awards as Best Cinematographer for the feature films Iruvar, Kalapani, Perumthachan and the documentary Mohiniyattam.

His directorial debut The Story of Tiblu, won him the 1988 National award for best short fiction film. His children's film Halo, received the Best Children's film award at the 43rd National Film Festival of India 1996.

His latest venture The Terrorist (Tamil) has bagged three awards for Best Film, Best Director and Best Artist award at the 22nd Cairo International Film Festival. The Terrorist has also won the National Award for Best Feature Film.

The stage for the Miss World 1996 Beauty pageant seemed as much the focus of attention as the contestants who vied for the crown. It had Hampi, the capital of the erstwhile Vijayanagara Empire, as its inspiration. Its creator - National award winning Art Director, Sabu Cyril.

Born in the idyllic surroundings of the Anamalai range (Western Ghats), he stayed in a forest cottage with his father Arthur Cyril, who worked in the tea estate. Making his debut in 1988 as an Art Director, he has worked in over 48 feature films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.This student of art (from the Government Arts and Crafts College, Chennai), with an un-dimmed love for Physics and Chemistry, enjoys science fiction enormously. He is also an Ad filmmaker, with over 250 assignments to his credit.

Among his memorable creations are the (manually) animated bun that vied for honour with Mohanlal in Uncle Bun (Malayalam, 1992), the robot dog in the T.V serial, En Iniya Iyandira (Tamil), the shark in Amaram (Malayalam, 1990) and the special effects in Iyer The Great (Malayalam, 1989) and the period sets for Hey Ram (Tamil). Sabu Cyril is the recipient of the National and Kerala State award for the films Thenmavin Kombathu and Kaalapani both in Malayalam.

|