It took him more than a year to get over the shock of that fateful afternoon, the pool of blood that drenched his body, the pungent smell of formalin from the mortuary and trauma of the mishap.
For Kalliyoor Sasi, the memory of the incidents that happened on the waste lands of Sholavaram on the outskirts of Chennai is still fresh even after 34 years.
Sasi, now a producer, was then a production executive with the multi-starrer ‘Kolilakkam’, on the location of which Jayan, the first macho hero and rising star of Malayalam screen, succumbed to death at an age of 41.
“It is nothing but his fate. The shot was approved by the director. But, he went for another, the fourth one, only on the request of Jayan,” says Sasi. “Everything ended in four hours. We had four cameras, which was not common at the time. But, it was needed as it was a high risk shot. I was standing with a camera team at a distance of nearly 50 metres while Jayan went for a retake,” he recollects the Sunday. “The pilot, Sampath, had briefed the team which includes the cameraman, director P N Sundaram, Jayan and Balan K Nair, about the risk involved. Balan K Nair was asked not to untie the seat belt and Jayan was warned against swaying while the helicopter is in air as it may tilt it. But, once the shot started, Jayan, known for his heroic mannerisms, tried to enter the cabin of the two-seater. Balan K Nair was also known for getting too involved while acting in stunt scenes. He reciprocated to Jayan’s actions and the copter tilted. I cried out to him to jump off. He might not have heard and within seconds, he fell off the chopper,” he says.
“I rushed to the spot while everybody else were expecting a blast. I took him in my lap and cried out for the help while Ranganayakan, a camera assistant, and Jayan’s driver came running. We took him to hospital in his Premier Padmini. On the advice of a doctor at a nearby clinic, we rushed him to General Hospital at Central, which is nearly 40 km away from the spot. Suddenly it began to rain and this was very rare in the city. We managed to reach the hospital in an hour braving the heavy downpour. He was taken on a stretcher. The duty doctor, Dr Narendran, a Malayali neurosurgeon, was not at the hospital. I called him and told it was Jayan and he reached within minutes. Jayan’s tight jeans was torn open and we were taken aback seeing the two holes in place of his knees on which he landed. His head that hit the copter was bleeding profusely. He was breathing and I was drenched in his blood. Then, he was taken for a surgery which took almost an hour. Doctor told me there was no positive sign as I had signed all the papers. He stopped breathing by 6.30 pm,” says Sasi. The body was moved to mortuary, which was devoid of any modern facilities. “The room was filled with dead bodies and the smell of the chemical pervaded the air. The only space left was on the floor. I requested for a better place and they agreed, for I was ready to pay. Thus, a two benches were allotted for the ‘star’ to rest, before the postmortem,” he adds.
Though he had shared a good relation with Jayan, he did not travel with the body after the postmortem examination on Monday. All the news came to him through telephone, which was not common then.
“I remember many stars who would throw off their wigs when they get angry. Jayan was an exception. Even after the accident, his wig was intact,” says Sasi of the star who still lives in the hearts of many even today.