MUMBAI: Santosh Sivan, one of the country‘s distinguished cinematographers, has been inducted into the prestigious American Society of Cinematographers (ASC).

The ASC is an organisation whose members are all cinematographers from across the world. Sivan is the first South-Asian cinematographer to be thus honoured. The ASC has only 340 members.

Sivan said, "I‘ve to thank all my directors. The induction means something special cause and hence I guess being invited by accomplished visual artistes is special. The ASC has very limited visual artistes who belong to one of the oldest society in the world."

A graduate from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Sivan went on to complete 45 features and 41 documentaries. A founding member of the Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC), he is the most awarded director of photography (DP) in India.

He was awarded the National Film Awards for Best Cinematography four times, for the films Perumthachan, Kaalapani, Iruvar and Dil Se.