Noted movie maker IV Sasi, known more as the Man with the Midas Touch in Malayalam film industry, is no more. Sasi (69) breathed his last on Tuesday at Chennai.
In a career spanning four decades, Sasi has directed 150 films in Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi. Sasi, a trained commercial artist started his film career as an art director in a Malayalam movie in late 1960s. Within three years he graduated into a full-fledged director and since then there was no looking back for this Kozhikode born showman of Malayalam films.
What made Sasi distinct was his expertise and dare devil approach in the selection of subjects and topics for his films. All movies directed by him stand out because of this unique feature. At a time when movie makers in India shuddered at the thought of portraying the life of a sex worker, Sasi crafted Avalude Ravukal (Her Nights), based on the trials and tribulations of a girl who was thrown into flesh trade by her surroundings. The movie turned out to be a super hit as well as a trend setter.
Most of the movies directed by Sasi reflected the mirror images of the topical Kerala society and the degeneration which has set in with urbanisation, globalisation and liberalisation. He was the first literary figure in South India who told the world about the rot which has happened in the left movement in the country . The move Eenadu (This land) tells how money and muscle power decayed the Communist movement in Kerala. Though Sasi had warned about the nexus between the Communists and the capitalists in this 1982 movie, later events proved that he was on the dot.
Angadi (The Market) was about the lives of porters and coolies of the market. He showed the world through this 1980 film that it was possible to make a visual treat by featuring hundreds of artists in a single shot. Sasi was equally competent in managing scenes with big crowds. Crowds were an essential ingredient in most of his movies.
The Kerala government has honoured him with the best director award four times and also the J C Daniel Award, the State’s equivalent to the Dada Sasheb Phalke Award. All leading stars of Malayalam cinema including Mohan lal, Mammootty, Srinivasan, lalu Alex, owe it to Sasi for their superstardom. Tamil actor Kamal Haasan, who has a 45-year long friendship with Sasi said he was saddened by the demise of Malayalam’s all time great movie maker.
Sasi leaves behind his wife Seema (herself a popular actress), a son and daughter.