I.V. Sasi to be laid to rest Wednesday

Chennai: Acclaimed Malayalam filmmaker I.V. Sasi, who passed away here Tuesday, will be laid to rest in Porur here Wednesday evening.

The mortal remains of the eminent director will be kept for the public to pay homage at his house at State Bank Colony, Abusali Street, in Saligramam here, before being taken to the electric crematorium, Perur, at 6 pm.

Accrding to sources in the known of developments, Sasi’s daughter, Anu, who is in Australia, will reach Chennai at 3 pm to attend her father’s funeral.

Sasi, who was instrumental in the success stories of superstars Mammootty, Mohanlal and Jayan, is survived by his wife, the popular yesteryear actress Seema, a son and a daughter.

In a career spanning close to four decades in which he also helmed some Tamil and Hindi projects, Sasi directed nearly 150 films. He was ailing for sometime.

Sasi, who was inactive in the film world for a while, was planning to get back to his passion. He had announced a blockbuster film with technology geek Sohan Roy to make a film on Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

Although Sasi hailed from Kozhikode in Kerala, he was based in Chennai.

The love Kozhikode and the industry had for Sasi was seen in a huge public reception held there in 2013 when almost everyone who acted in his films turned up. Leading from the front then were Kamal Haasan, Mammootty and Mohanlal.

Sasi's glorious career as a director began after the stupendous success of "Avalude Raavukal" (Her Nights) in 1978. It told the tale of a prostitute, a role essayed by Seema who later became the director's wife.

In the two decades starting in the 1980s, Mammootty and Mohanlal established themselves in the category of superstars. Of the nearly 150 films that Sasi directed, Mammootty starred in more than three dozen of them.

Mohanlal's hit movie "Devasuram", scripted by Ranjith, was directed by Sasi. The two superstars also acted together in a dozen of Sasi's films.

Sasi's biggest hit "Angadi", released in 1980, starred Jayan. They worked in six films.

Sasi's magic last worked in 2003 when "Balram Vs Tharadas" met with reasonable success. After that, he did just one film. Since then, he was cooling his heels in Chennai, while his wife Seema found more visibility on TV screens than on the silver screen.