2013 will be momentous for me: Santosh Sivan

Nov 12, 2012 IANS

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 12 (IANS) For ace cinematographer and filmmaker Santosh Sivan, 2013 will be a busy year - he will work on two mega projects next year and the films will be something to watch out for.

"The past couple of months have been hectic as I was almost simultaneously doing two mega projects. While Tamil film 'Thupaki' is over, there is a little bit more to be done in Priyadarshan's Hindi film 'Rangrez"," the 48-year-old told IANS over phone from Chennai.

The Priyadarshan-Sivan duo is coming together after 1996 film "Kalapani", which won four National Awards including the best cinematographer trophy for Sivan.

"Once I film the remaining bits for 'Rangrez', then hopefully, it would be a break for me because I have to plan for 2013, which is going to be a momentous one for me, hopefully," said Sivan.

On his drawing board for the next year is "Ceylon", a bilingual film to be made in Tamil and English.

"All I can say is the film stars a 15-year-old and this has been on my mind for a while. Then I have something very big and at the moment I am sorry I just can't share the details of that mega project. I will speak up the moment everything is ready," said Sivan.

Incidentally, in April this year, Sivan became the first South Asian to be honoured with a membership of the most prestigious American Society of Cinematographers (ASC).

ASC membership is by invitation, based on an individual's body of work and its membership roster comprises of 302 cinematographers who hail from about 20 different countries.

"With the ASC membership, even though it's not mandatory to encourage talent from everywhere, it's in the best interest that an ASC member does at least one Hollywood film in a year. Hence I will be doing work in Hollywood also," said the four-time National Award winner Sivan.