Santosh Thundiyil

Santosh Thundiyil Biography

Santosh Thundiyil is an ace cinematographer associated with Bollywood and Mollywood at present. He hails from Changanassery, Kerala, and has worked for a few Malayalam movies such as Mohanlal starrer Devadoothan in 2000. As a Bollywood cinematographer, he shot to fame after doing the camera work of one of the biggest blockbusters of Bollywood ever - Kuch Kuch Hota Hai in 1998 starring King Khan and Kajol as lead romantic pair. Santosh Sivan did some additional shots for the film. The movie also marked his Bollywood debut.  Krrish (2006), Pinjar (2003), Tere Bin Laden (2010), Rowdy Rathore (2012) and Jai Ho (2014) are among his other major hits. Studied from Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, he is a visiting professor at many major film institutes of India at present.

He hails from Changanassery of Kottayam district. His school and college education was completed his from hometown itself. Later he moved to Pune, where he studied cinematography from the prestigious FTII. He completed his PG diploma in the year 1994 before he started his career in Bollywood. He started off his career working as an assistant under renowned filmmakers of Malayalam and Hindi film industry like Govind Nihlani, Venu and Binod Pradhan. He also worked for several documentaries and jingles.

As an independent cinematographer, he started off with Malayalam classic – Pranayavarnangal, one of the most romantic films of Malayalam in 1998. Same year he made his Bollywood debut with blockbuster Kuch Kuch Hota hai, directed by Karan Johar. The movie also marked the directorial debut of Karan Johar. Since then he worked in both Malayalam and Hindi films. He won Asianet Film Awards for best cinematographer twice – Palungu (2006) and Aakasha Gopuram (2008). In 2012 he received his first nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Cinematographer for Rowdy Rathore. Tera Jadoo Chal Gayaa (2000), Hello Brother (1999), Pyaar Impossible (2010) and Jayantabhai Ki Luv Story (2013) are a few more noted works in Bollywood.

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Updated: June 19, 2016