Renowned as one of India's premiere cinematographers, Santosh Sivan's directorial debut was rather different to what people expected. Having mastered the art of making motion picture films for the commercial box office, his first film, The Terrorist was a low budget affair, which earned Sivan the patronage of John Malkovich at the Cairo Film Festival. Plaudits worldwide predicted he would take Hollywood by storm and the opportunity to work alongside mainstream established directors would be too good to resist, but for the meantime Sivan is happy to continue working in India.

Inspired by the late Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese, Sivan is back with his latest offering, Asoka, the 3rd Mauryan Emperor of the Mauryan Dynasty. Asoka is a three-hour epic love story, which deals with the transformation of the emperor Asoka from a bloody warrior to a peaceful monk.

Omar Ahmed talks to Santosh Sivan.

'I have always had great respect and admiration for the earlier generation of cinematographers who laid the foundation for us to learn and see the world poetically, in terms of light and shadow.' That statement by Santosh holds true for all the films he has worked on, none more than his latest direction where he magically draws photographic parallels between Asoka with changes in the seasons. The weather and seasons are a great source of inspiration for him.

"I try to capture light based on my experiences with the weather including rain, sun, snow and clouds," he says. "It is a great challenge for cinematographers to capture changes in season. Since the film deals with transitions in a person's life, I tried to shoot it while seasons were changing thus capturing the monsoons, mist and nature in its changing form. For example, just as a full moon affects the tide, a change in the weather brings emotional changes in human beings. Santosh first heard the story of Asoka when he was in school. 'I had always wanted to make a film about issues which were very close to me. I wanted to make a different kind of war film, very emotionally driven, with a romantic twist. I had always been interested in Asoka, as a great emperor.'

With the rise in current exposure and subsequent interest from all angles including the West, Bollywood films are rapidly becoming the fashionable alternative to all. I ask Santosh how the British press have reacted to Asoka. 'The British press have all been in disbelief' he laughs 'They cannot believe I'm the same guy who made The Terrorist, so next time they watch a Santosh Sivan film they know not to expect anything'

According to Santosh the current appreciation of Bollywood is long overdue and promises this is just the start. 'Bollywood is finally being appreciated by the whole world. Take Moulin Rouge for instance, an American film made in a Bollywood format, look out for more. We should look for the source not the inspiration. Plus it's great that places like Birmingham in specific, which has a great Asian community have cinema chains, which dedicate screens to Bolly lovers.'

Asoka is released 26th October nationwide.

Do you have any thoughts on this? Feel free to send Omar an e-mail @ Omar Ahmed.