Santosh Sivan is an Indian cinematographer, film director, producer and actor known for his works in Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi cinema. Santosh graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India and has to date completed 55 feature films and 50 documentaries. He is regarded as one of India's finest and best cinematographers. He is the recipient of twelve National Film Awards, six Filmfare Awards, four Kerala State Film Awards, and three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.
Indian cinematographers work in a number of regional film centres: Mumbai for films in Marathi and Hindi, Hyderabad for Telugu films, Chennai for Tamil films, Kochi for films in Malayalam, Kolkata for Bengali films, Bangalore for Kannada films, etc. Most Indian cinematographers are known for their work with one regional industry. Some cinematographers belong to various professional organisations and trade unions.
S. Thirunavukarasu, better known mononymously as Tirru, is an Indian cinematographer and screenwriter who has worked in multiple languages across India. Born in Mullukuruchi village, Tirru became interested in photography when he was in college.
Nirav Shah is an Indian cinematographer. He has worked on a number of major box office hits in Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam since his debut with the 2004 Hindi film Paisa Vasool.
Kokila is a 1977 Indian Kannada-language romance film directed, written and filmed by Balu Mahendra. The film stars Shoba playing the title character along with Kokila Mohan, Roja Ramani and Kamal Haasan in other prominent roles. The film marked the directorial debut of Balu Mahendra, who was a cinematographer working predominantly in South Indian films then. The film also marked the acting debut of actor Mohan.
K. Ramachandra Babu was an Indian cinematographer of over 125 films, out of which most are Malayalam films. He also worked for films in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Arabic and English languages. He served as the cinematographer for several documentaries and advertisement films as well. He was the founder of the Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC).
Anuradha, known by her stage name Tara, is a National award winning Indian actress, known for her work in Kannada cinema and politics. She joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2009 and is currently a nominated member of the Karnataka Legislative Council.
Venugopal Pillai, popularly known as Venu, is an Indian cinematographer and film director who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. An alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune and CMS college Kottayam. He has been the recipient of four National Film Awards, including three for Best Cinematography and one Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director, and four Kerala State Film Awards. He is a founding member of the Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC).
Madhu Ambat is an Indian cinematographer who predominately works in Malayalam and Tamil-language films apart from a few English, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali and Sanskrit films. With a career spanning over 40 years, he is one of the most prolific cinematographers in Indian cinema. He is best known for his work in films such as Amaram, Anjali, and Makaramanju. He currently resides in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He has won the National Film Award for Best Cinematography thrice. He is a member of the Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC).
Sameer C. ThahirISC is an Indian cinematographer, screenwriter, producer and film director, who works primarily in Malayalam cinema.
Rajamani Velraj is an Indian cinematographer, director and writer who primarily works in Tamil and Hindi cinema. He is well known for his camera work in films like Asuran, Aadukalam, Vada Chennai, Kadaikutty Singam and Komban, and for directing Velaiilla Pattadhari and Thanga Magan.
Jomon T. JohnISC is an Indian cinematographer and producer who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. Jomon made his debut with Chaappa Kurishu (2011). Jomon won the 2015 Kerala State Film Award for Best Cinematography for the films Nee-Na, Ennu Ninte Moideen, and Charlie.
Lijo Jose Pellissery is an Indian filmmaker and actor who works in Malayalam cinema. His best works include Amen (2013), Angamaly Diaries (2017), Ee.Ma.Yau. (2018), Jallikattu (2019), Churuli (2021), and Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam (2023).
Ashok Kumar Aggarwal was an Indian cinematographer who worked mainly in the South Indian film industry. In a career that spanned nearly four decades, he worked in over 125 feature films in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Hindi languages. Aggarwal was a member of the Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC).
M. J. Radhakrishnan was an Indian cinematographer working mainly in Malayalam films. He got National film award 2018 as best cinematographer for his work on Malayalam movie Oolu. He won Kerala State Award for Best Cinematography 7 times, equal with Mankada Ravi Varma. Earlier he worked as a still photographer and then as an associate to cinematographer turned director Shaji N. Karun. His important works included Deshadanam (1996), Karunam (1999) Naalu Pennungal (2007), Veettilekkulla Vazhi (2010) and Akasathinte Niram. His films were screened at several prominent film festivals around the world including Cannes, Shanghai, Cairo, Montreal, Telluride, Jeonju, Toronto, Chicago, Rhode Island and Rotterdam. One of his works, Marana Simhasanam, won Caméra d'Or in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. Another film Veyilmarangal won Golden Goblet award for Outstanding Artistic achievement at Shanghai International Film Festival 2019. He worked on over 117 feature films and several documentaries and worked with some of the prominent Indian filmmakers including Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Murali Nair, Shaji N. Karun, TV Chandran, Dr. Biju, Jayaraj and Renjith. He mostly worked on arthouse films and was known for his natural lighting styles. In a career spanning more than two decades, he worked with a number of young film makers, mostly in their maiden ventures. Film Kalamandalam Hyderali 2019, directed by Kiran G. Nath was his last completed work as director of photography.
Sujith Vaassudev is an Indian cinematographer and film director who works predominantly in Malayalam films. He has also worked in several Tamil and Telugu films. He is best known for his works in Memories (2013), 7th Day (2014), Drishyam (2014) and Lucifer (2019). He was the recipient of the Kerala State Film Award for Best Cinematographer in 2013.
Angamaly Diaries is a 2017 Indian Malayalam-language crime film directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery and written by Chemban Vinod Jose. The film features 86 debutant actors with Antony Varghese, Anna Rajan, Appani Sarath, Kichu Tellus, Ullas Jose Chemban, Vineeth Vishwam, Bitto Davis, Tito Wilson and Sinoj Varghese playing the main roles. It marks Vijay Babu's first sole production under Friday Film House. The film features an uncut 11-minute long take in the climax featuring around 1000 artists.
Vishnu Vijay is an Indian music composer and a prolific flautist who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. His film music career began with the 2016 Malayalam film Guppy. His other works include Ambili (2019), Thallumaala (2022) Sulaikha Manzil (2023) and Premalu (2024)
Antony Varghese, also known by his screen name Pepe is an Indian actor who appears in Malayalam films. He made his debut in 2017 through the film Angamaly Diaries.
Nikhil S. Praveen is an Indian cinematographer working mainly in Malayalam films. The Kottayam native made his debut with the 2017 film Bhayanakam directed by Jayaraj for which he received Best Cinematography award at the 65th National Film Awards.
