Kochi: It has been four years since Irruppam Veedu Sasidaran, popularly known as I V Sasi, passed away creating a huge vacuum in the Malayalam film industry. A daring director, Sasi broke all the conventions and traditions of filmmaking in the Malayalam film industry.
Born on 28 March 1948 in West Hill near Kozhikode, Sasi took a plunge into the film industry at a very young age. He came up the hard way, starting as an art director and ending up as a superhit director and filmmaker. Making his debut as a director in Ulsavam at the age of 27, Sasi took little time to create a space for himself in the industry which was stuck in archaic themes and storylines.
It was Avalude Ravukal that changed the outlook of Malayalam film industry. It went to different states in the country, dubbed in different languages. He introduced Seema in the film who went on to become a top actress in South Indian films and later became Sasi’s better half.
All credits go to Sasi for tapping the talents of Mammootty and Mohanlal. It was through Trishna that he showcased the stuff in Mammootty. They worked together in 35 films.
It was his Iniyengilum that gave a break for Mohanlal to display his skills as a co-hero. He associated with M T Vasudevan, Padmarajan and T Damodaran to create memorable films.
His Devasuram with Mohanlal scripted by Ranjit is one of his evergreen films.
He also directed Kamal Haasan in films including Guru, Allauddinum Albhutha Vilakkum, Karishma and Eeta. He introduced Rajinikanth to Malayalam film industry with Allauddinum Albhutha Vilakkum. Sasi’s films in other languages are Telugu-Tamil bilingual film Kaali with Rajinikanth, Patita with Mithun Chakraborty, Anokha Rishta with Rajesh Khanna and Smita Patil, Pratishodh, Karishma among others. His Anokha Rishta with Rajesh Khanna in Hindi was a remake of Kanamarayathu. His biggest blockbuster in Tamil was Ore Vaanam Ore Bhoomi was remade in Malayalam as Ezhamkadalinakkare.
His 1921, written by screenwriter T. Damodaran, was the first Malayalam movie to be nominated in the Italian Film Festival. He shared The Nargis Dutt award for the best feature film on national integration for his film Aaroodam with its producer Rosamma George in 1982.
Ezhamkadalinakkare is the first Malayalam film to shoot in North America. He was working on pre-production of a film based on the Kuwait war Burning Wells.
Sasi made over 150 films predominantly in Malayalam. He has won many awards including the J C Daniel Award. I V Sasi has directed more than 170-odd films over a span of 34 years and has constantly delivered super hits and some of them classified as classics. He has two children, daughter Anu and son Ani.
