Legendrary director IV Sasi dead at 69
Popular director IV Sasi is no more, the director who has more than 150 films to his credit had mostly worked in the Malayalam industry but also directed some Tamil and Hindi films early in his career.
His last movie was titled Vellathooval which starred Rejith Menon, Nithya Menon and Lalu Alex and released back in 2009. After that, the director didn’t do any films as he was undergoing treatment. The director breathed his last in Chennai. The director who was undergoing treatment was shifted to his residence in Saligramam where he passed away.
IV Sasi was known primarily for his Malayalam films which were popular at the box office. During 1970–2000, the director was in his prominence and directed numerous films in Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam. He was conferred with JC Daniel Award in 2015 and also received the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration for Aaroodam which released in 1982. He has been the recipient of four state awards besides this.
The director was married to the actress Seema whom he directed in Avalude Raavukkal. They have worked together on many films since then and have two children.
IV Sasi started his career as an art director with the 1968 release Kaliyalla Kalyanam. He was also instrumental in Rajinikanth’s Malayalam debut with the film ‘Allauddinum Albhutha Vilakkum’ which starred Kamal Haasan alongside the superstar and was a bilingual film. Sasi was known to be instrumental in making both Mammootty and Mohanlal the big stars that they are today. He even gave Kamal Haasan numerous chances to prove himself in his movies.
IV Sasi had worked with Mammotty in films like Thrishna and Mrugaya which were phenomenal hits and established Mammokka’s stardom. On the other hand, he also gave Mohanlal the popularity with films like Ineyegillum and Devaasuram. In Hindi, he directed films like Karishmaa which starred Kamal Haasan, Reena Roy, Tina Munim among others and released in 1984.
His debut feature film as a director was Utsavam which released in 1975 and starred Srividya, Sankaradi, Raghavan and Sukumaran in lead roles. He is most popular for films like Avalude Raavukal, Devaasuram, Guru, Eeta, Angaadi, Anubhavam, Ayalkari, Inspector Balram, 1921, Balram Vs Tharadas, Sradha among others.
RIP, IV Sasi. His works stand testimony to his dedication to the field and he will always be missed by the Indian film fraternity.
