KOCHI: Anyone who adored filmmaker Sachy cannot help but feel a lump in his/her throat after he was named Best Director in this year’s list of national award winners. One part of us is delighted at the posthumous honour; the other badly wishes he was alive to witness the well-deserved accolades coming his way.
One of the few Malayalam filmmakers gifted with the ability to look at familiar narratives through fresh perspectives while staying within the confines of mainstream filmmaking, the lawyer-turned-filmmaker understood that cinema is a collective effort.
He understood that each member of a film has contributed to its success. He had a strong understanding of human nature, which was evident in the best of his works. Ayyappanum Koshiyum composer Jakes Bejoy is grateful to Sachy for giving him a chance that the former considers his “benchmark” project. “I don’t think I’ve been able to top my work in that,” he says. “I’m lucky to have worked with him. The fact that he is not here to receive his national award makes us all emotional. How incredible it is to be nationally recognised for not just Sachy’s work but also Nanjiyamma’s! While picking Nanjiyamma for the song, I never thought we would get recognised like this.” Cinematographer Sujith Vaassudev, who worked on Sachy’s directorial debut ‘Anarkali’, remembers him as someone who treated everyone like a brother.
Like Jakes, he too is overwhelmed by emotions but is glad that his work is recognised on a national level. “He was a guy who wished the best for everyone. He used to share his dreams with all of us. Nobody who met Sachy would say that he was not like their brother. All of us who were part of his circle prefer to believe that he is still with us.”