Santosh Sivan is an award winning cinematographer, director, producer and actor.  As a child, his grandmother was a huge influence, due to which he developed an interest in the visual arts. His father too used to make documentaries and allow the young and eager Santosh to help him.

Santosh is a founder of the Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC) and the most reputed director of photography in India. He graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and has made 45 features and 41 documentaries.

He has received many accolades for films like Perumthachan, (Malayalam, 1991), Kalapani (Malayalam, 1996), Mohiniyattam (Malayalam, 1991), Iruvar (Tamil, 1998) and Dil Se (Hindi, 1999).

He was also honoured by the Japanese Society of Cinematographers and has been on the Jury for the Busan Film Festival. He is seen as a mentor to students for Mira Nair's Maisha Film Lab: in Uganda, and is a director to the Sivan Foundation of Photography. He was also a governing council member at the Pune Film Institute.

As a director, Santosh won many accolades in 1988 for the film Story of Tiblu (1988). His film Halo (1996) was honoured at the 43rd National Film Award as the Best Childrens' Film and Best Sound. He also shot the Polio campaign with superstar Amitabh Bachchan.

His 2007 release, Prarambha (2007) won him many accolades and much appreciation from some of the most eminent critics. The film dealt with a little boy who had been ostracised from school only because he is diagnosed with HIV. This film highlighted the plight of the boy and the ignorance of society towards the ailment. The film was produced by the Bill and Melinda Gates AIDS foundation and was shot entirely in Mysore.

Santosh Sivan is a member of the prestigious American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) and is also the first person from the Asia-Pacific to have been vested with this honour. He is also the recipient of multiple international awards for his outstanding work.

He recently worked on the epic historical drama Ek Yodha Shoorveer (2016) where he got yet another opportunity to show the extent of his abilities.