KOCHI: At a time when successful movies are a rare phenomenon in Malayalam cinema, it is not easy to maintain an upward graph by consistently delivering hits and mega hits -- be it as writer or director. However, Sachidanandan KR, popularly known as Sachy, who passed away on Thursday night, was truly a master, with the uncanny ability to gauge the pulse of viewers with unerring accuracy.
He was also one of the very few writer-directors having a Midas touch. The saddest part in this untimely demise is that it came during a year when he was basking in the glory of two consecutive hits -- 'Driving Licence' and 'Ayyappanum Koshiyum'. He was the most sought after writer following the twin successes. However, destiny had another tale for him.
Sachy, who was born in Kodungallur, was a lawyer in the Kerala High Court. After practising law for eight years, he collaborated with his friend Sethu, also a lawyer, and wrote the script for 'Chocolate' (2007). The movie directed by Shafi was one of the biggest hits of the year. Following its success, the duo worked on many more scripts -- 'Robinhood' (2009), 'Make-up Man' (2011), 'Seniors' (2011) and 'Doubles' (2011).
They parted ways in 2012 and soon Sachy came up with his first solo script- 'Run Baby Run' (2012). He also penned another script in the same year for his friend Shajoon Karyal. In 2015, Sachy debuted as a director with Prithviraj-starrer 'Anarkali'.
Sachy's engaging screenplay saw 'Ramaleela' (2017) becoming a huge hit despite the rough patch in life Dileep was going through. In 2017, he penned dialogues for Biju Menon's 'Sherlock Toms'. In 2019, Sachy crafted one of the perfect commercial script of recent times for Lal Jr. He soon came up with his second directorial venture -'Ayyappanum Koshiyum' (2020 February) which ran to packed houses. However, nobody thought that it would be his swan song.
"He was an expert who knew the pulse of the audience. This is one of the greatest losses we have suffered at the time of this pandemic. As screenwriter-director, he was the undisputed numero uno in the Malayalam film industry," said director Unnikrishnan B.