Santosh Sivan is an Indian cinematographer, film director, producer and actor in Indian cinema. He was born on 8 February 1964 in Trivandrum, Kerala, India. Sivan graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India and has to date completed 45 feature films and 41 documentaries. He is a founding member of the Indian Society of Cinematographers and is the most awarded Director of Photography in India. Sivan became the first Cinematographer in the Asia-Pacific region to be honoured with American Society of Cinematographers membership. As a cinematographer, he has won five National Film Awards – including four for Best Feature Film Cinematography. As of 2014, he has received 11 National Film Awards for his work in various films. As of 2014, he has received 11 National Film Awards for his work in various films.He was awarded the Padmashree by the president of India in the year 2014. Santosh was honoured by the Japanese Society of Cinematographers and has been on the Jury for the Busan Film Festival. He is 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 his first National Award in 1988 for the film Story of Tiblu (1988). His film Halo was honoured at the 43rd National Film Awards as the Best Childrens' Film and Best Sound.