Not Just a Director—A Feelings Wale Filmmaker: Meet Santosh Singh

Santosh Singh is among the most quietly powerful filmmakers working in Hindi cinema today. His films don’t scream; they whisper. They don’t chase spectacle; they return to the core of storytelling—emotion, stillness, and human connection.

With Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan (releasing July 11, 2025), Singh delivers what might be his most refined and emotionally resonant work to date: an adaptation of Ruskin Bond’s short story The Eyes Have It. At just six pages long, the source material is fragile, poetic, and sparse—yet Singh transforms it into a full-length romance that feels both sweeping and intimate. Starring Vikrant Massey as a visually impaired musician and Shanaya Kapoor in her debut as a spirited theatre actor, the film is set against the twin backdrops of Mussoorie’s monsoon-soaked mist and Mumbai’s solitude. It’s a story built on what’s felt more than said—crafted with visual grace, quiet confidence, and deep emotional intelligence.

What makes Santosh Singh’s ascent remarkable is how grounded it is in hard-earned experience. Before stepping into the director’s chair, he spent years shaping his craft behind the scenes—working as an assistant director on some of India’s most iconic films. From the emotional realism of Wake Up Sid (2009) to the high-energy ensemble of Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013), and the complex emotional layering in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016) and Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva (2022), Singh was embedded in productions where story and scale had to co-exist. These were not passive years. They were foundational. He studied rhythm, staging, and silence. And perhaps most crucially, he learned how to trust actors. That apprenticeship now shows in every frame he directs. While others look to dominate the screen, Singh finds meaning in letting characters breathe.

His first major breakthrough came with Broken… But Beautiful (2018), a web series that redefined on-screen heartbreak for the streaming generation. Singh’s treatment of grief, romance, and unresolved longing resonated with a digital audience starved for sincerity. From there, he pivoted to thrillers and political drama with Apharan and Ranneeti: Balakot and Beyond, expanding his canvas while retaining his emotional signature. But even in those high-stakes environments, Singh never lost his core strength: empathy. His camera lingers where others cut away. He’s more interested in what a pause reveals than what a line explains. That approach carries over into Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan, a film that feels both old-world and urgently modern. It’s cinematic romance without cliché, literature without pretension, and performance without noise.

Central to Singh’s craft is his relationship with actors. He’s known to rehearse patiently, to explore scenes rather than dictate them, and to trust intuition over formula. His casting of Vikrant Massey wasn’t a default—it was a decision based on belief. “Only I see him as a romantic hero,” Singh once remarked, and that conviction is felt in every scene. Likewise, his choice to cast Shanaya Kapoor—far from a shortcut or industry favor—was the result of four months of auditions, workshops, and character preparation. He didn’t hand her a role. He asked her to earn it. And by all early accounts, she did. On Singh’s sets, acting isn’t manufactured; it’s discovered. He doesn’t extract performances. He creates space for them.

What distinguishes Santosh Singh from many of his contemporaries is his restraint. In an era obsessed with virality, volume, and velocity.

Singh is taking his time—slowing cinema back down to a human pace. Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan doesn’t arrive as a product to consume, but as an experience to dwell in. With music by Vishal Mishra and Joel Joe Crasto weaving through its emotional fabric, the film is already generating quiet excitement for its sincerity, tone, and chemistry. Singh isn’t just bringing back the love story—he’s reintroducing us to the language of feeling.

In every way that matters, Santosh Singh is the kind of filmmaker Hindi cinema needs right now: focused, thoughtful, and deeply human. His past informs his present, but never limits it. He understands the machinery of big films but resists their excess. He trusts the audience’s intelligence, honors the actor’s craft, and leans into the poetry of cinema rather than its noise. With Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan, he isn’t launching a blockbuster—he’s offering a love letter. One written in silences, sincerity, and soul.