It took Kalliyoor Sasi more than a year to get over the shock of that fateful November 16, 1980 afternoon - the pool of blood that drenched Jayan's body, the pungent smell of formalin from the mortuary and the trauma of the mishap that ended the life of Malayalam cinema's then soaring action hero.
For Sasi, the memory of the incidents that happened on the wastelands of Sholavaram on the outskirts of Chennai was still fresh even after 34 years when he was interviewed by The New Indian Express.
Sasi, who went on to become a producer, was then a production executive for the multi-starrer Kolilakkam, on the location of which Jayan, the first macho hero and rising star of Malayalam screen, fell to his death at the age of 41.
"It is nothing but his fate. The shot had been approved by the director. But, he went for another, the fourth one, only at the request of Jayan," Sasi remembered.
"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 recollected.
"The pilot, Sampath, had briefed the team which included 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 was 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 and the copter tilted. I cried out to Jayan to jump off. He might not have heard and within seconds, he fell off the chopper," Sasi said.
"I rushed to the spot while everybody else was expecting a blast. I took him in my lap and cried out for help while Ranganayakan, a camera assistant, and Jayan’s driver came running. We took him to the hospital in his Fiat car. 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 were 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. The doctor told me there was no positive sign as I had signed all the papers. He stopped breathing by 6.30 pm,” Sasi remembered.
The body was moved to a 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 added.
(This is an edited version of an article we had first published in 2014).