Kerala, Poona- The institute.

"My father is my director, mentor.. inspiration"

Santosh Sivan's early days were spent in the southern city of Trivandrum in Kerala with his family. His father Mr Sivan installed in him the passion for looking at the world though the lens. Sivans Studios was second home.

The Film Institute.

I had a nice time there. But the FTII was a regular victim of strikes and other forms of melodrama. I took every such opportunity venture out from there and explore.

I am a roadman; I loved to travel and sometimes took off to nowhere. "The story of Tiblu" happened on one such trip.

The Story of Tiblu, which reaped in a National award for best short film in 1988, was filmed in the remote hilly northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh where people only spoke tribal dialect. They had never even heard of or seen a screen.