National Geographic's nod to Kerala filmmaker

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 3 (IANS) A Kerala filmmaker has been selected by National Geographic Channel (NGC) to make films for it, becoming the third Indian and the first Keralite to be commissioned by the channel.

Sanjeev Sivan, 44, younger brother of National Award winning cinematographer Santosh Sivan, said he was among 25 people short listed by NGC from 32,000 applicants and had to appear for an interview in Singapore.

"I was one of the three who was finally commissioned to produce films for them," Sivan told IANS. Sivan says "Acthung Baby", a documentary film he is making on Indo-Aryans, is in the final stages of production. "I have shot for this 50-minute film in Leh, Ladakh and Frankfurt. I have offers to do this film as a feature also," Sivan said.

Sivan, who hails from this Kerala capital, is the youngest of three brothers. His eldest brother, Sangeeth, too is a well-known director. Sivan made his debut in Malayalam films last year with "Aparichathan", which starred superstar Mammootty.

Though Sivan has done just one Malayalam commercial film, he has been part of the Sivan film family for well over two decades - helping his father, a National Award winning film personality as well as his two elder brothers. Sivan is elated that he has got another documentary cleared by NGC.

"Once I finish 'Acthung Baby' I will work on my second film for NGC which is on coalmine fires in Asia. I'll shoot in mines at Jharia in India, and in China and Bali in the coming months.

"I have just returned from these places to identify the sites. Umesh Agarwal is the executive producer for this. The first documentary is being produced by my own entertainment company," he said.

Sivan has three more proposals in the pipeline for NGC, including "The Pied Piper - Rat Menace in Arunachal Pradesh", "Pie in the Sky - Inside a Flight Kitchen" and "Inside Rashtrapati Bhavan".