I. V. Sasi

I. V. Sasi
Born March 28, 1948 (1948-03-28) (age 63)
Kozhikode, Madras State, India
Occupation Film director
Spouse Seema
Children Anu, Ani

Irruppam Veedu Sasidaran, better known as I. V. Sasi, is a Malayali Indian film director who is known for his films of the 1970s, 80s and early 90s. He has directed about 150 films in various South Indian languages and Hindi. He is known as the "veteran" or the "guru" filmmaker in Malayalam cinema.

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Early life and career

I. V. Sasi started his film career as an art director. Later, after working as an assistant director in some films, he directed his first film at the age of 27. Though his name was not mentioned in the credits, the film turned out to be a huge success. He started his directorial career officially with his first film Ulsavam. Soon he carved out a name for himself in the Malayalam film industry. His films were known for their uniqueness and always contained a stamp of his directorial style. I. V. Sasi has directed more than 131 odd films over a span of 34 years and has constantly delivered super hits and some of them classified as classics or good cinema. His Malayalam film Avalude Raavukal permanently established his name in the industry. This film was later dubbed into many other Indian languages including Hindi. It was the second film in Malayalam to be rated as "Adults only" even though it was a family drama.

He introduced Mammootty as a hero in his film Thrishna. Mohanlal's first film as the co-hero Ineyengillum was also directed by I. V. Sasi. Other collaborations such as M.T. Vasudevan Nair-I. V. Sasi, Padmarajan-I. V. Sasi, and T.Damodaran-I. V. Sasi are well remembered. He worked with Mammootty on more than 35 films. He went on to direct one of his biggest hits, Devaasuram, which was a collaboration with Ranjith and Mohanlal. He has directed films in several other languages, such as Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil. He has directed Kamal Haasan in films like Guru, Alauddinum Arputha Vilakkum, Karishma and Eeta. He was the one who introduced Rajinikanth to Malayalam film industry through Allauddinum Albhutha Vilakkum in 1979. Other films with Rajinikanth include the Telugu-Tamil bilingual film Kaali and Ellam Un Kairasi. He has directed Hindi movies as Patita (Mithun Chakraborty), Anokha Rishta (Rajesh Khanna and Smita Patil), Pratishodh (1980), Karishma etc. He has directed Malayalam movies in many genres. His war-themed movie 1921, written by screenwriter T. Damodaran, was the first Malayalam movie to be nominated in the Italian Film Festival. His Ina was the first Malayalam movie about child marriage.

Family

I. V. Sasi met his future wife, Malayalam actress Seema, on the sets of his film, Avalude Raavukkal. Ever since, she has been his favorite heroine. They have worked together in more than 30 movies. He has two children, daughter Anu and son Ani. Anu has acted in one movie, Symphony, directed by her father. Ani was a student of Visual Communication at Loyola College, Chennai and is an aspiring director himself. I. V. Sasi lives with his family in Chennai.

Selected filmography

  • Ulsavam (1975)
  • Anubhavam (1976)
  • Ayalkaari (1976)
  • Aalinganam (1976)
  • Abhinandanam (1976)
  • Ashirvaadam (1977)
  • Akale Akasham (1977)
  • Anjali (1977)
  • Angikaram (1977)
  • Abhinivesam (1977)
  • Itha Ivide Vare (1977)
  • Aa Nimisham (1977)
  • Anandam Paramanandam (1977)
  • Andardaaham (1977)
  • Hridayame Sakshi (1977)
  • Innale Innu (1977)
  • Oonjal (1977)
  • Ee Manohara Theeram (1978)
  • Anumodhanam (1978)
  • Avalude Ravukal (1978)
  • Amarsham (1978)
  • Itha Oru Manushyan (1978)
  • Vadakaykku Oru Hridayam (1978)
  • Njan Njan Mathram (1978)
  • Eeta (1978)
  • Iniyum Puzha Ozhukum (1978)
  • Allaudinaum Arputha Vilakkum (1979)
  • Man Ka Aangan (1979)
  • Anubhavangale Nandhi (1979)
  • Manasa Vacha Karmana (1979)
  • Aezham Kadalin Akkare (1979)
  • Aarattu (1979)
  • Ivar (1980)
  • Angaadi (1980)
  • Kaanthavalayam (1980)
  • Pathitha (1980)
  • Meen (1980)
  • Karimbana (1980)
  • Aswaratham (1980)
  • Prathishod (1980)
  • Orikkal Koodi (1981)
  • Thushaaram (1981)
  • Trishna (1981)
  • Hamsageetham (1981)
  • Ahimsa (1981)
  • Ee Nadu (1982)
  • Ina (1982)
  • Thadakam (1982)
  • John Jaffer Janardhanan (1982)
  • Sindora Sandhyakku Mounam (1982)
  • Innalenkil Naale (1982)
  • America America (1983)
  • Iniyenkilum (1983)
  • Nanayam (1983)
  • Kaikeyi (1983)
  • Aroodam (1983)

References