KOCHI: Tagged as the first ‘hit maker’ of Malayalam cinema, director Sasikumar, who passed away on Thursday, also holds the record for directing the most number of films in the history of the Indian cinema. The veteran has 141 films in his kitty, with most of them becoming hits and super hits. He had cast Prem Nazir in 84 of his films as the hero, which is another record.
Nambiathussery Varkey John, who later came to be known as Sasikumar, was born on October 14, 1928, in Alappuzha. He started his film career as an actor, by playing a villain in Visappinte Vili. Identifying his talent, Kunchakko of Udaya advised him to assist him in filmmaking, which paved way for the birth of the ‘hit maker’.
His first venture as a director was a documentary for FACT, tiled ‘Onakkazhcha’. By joining hands with writer S L Puram, he came up with his first feature film, ‘Oral Koodi Kallanayi’, in 1960. The real break came through ‘Kudumbini’ (1964), which had Prem Nazir and Sheela in the lead roles. Later, Prem Nazir played the lead role in Sasikumar’s 84 movies, while Sheela was the heroine in 47 of him films.
For the next 30 years, Sasikumar was a synonym for ‘hit’, with most of his films, like Thommante Makkal, Porter Kunjali, Balyakalasakhi, Rest House, Lanka Dahanam, Thiruvabharanam, Panchavadi, Night Duty, Picnic, Chattambi Kalyani, Pick Pocket, Thuruppu Gulan, Mudra Mothiram, Karipuranda Jeevithangal, Nagamadathu Thampuratty, Post Mortem and Madrassile Mon, keeping the cash registers ringing.
He had also associated with the next generation superstars, including Mammootty, Mohanlal and Suresh Gopi. It was Sasikumar who provided Mohanlal a major breakthrough, as an actor and star, through Attakkalasham, which was released in 1983.
By the early 90’s, Sasikumar’s presence in the film industry became less. His last film was Dollar, released in 1993, with veteran actor Padmini in lead roles.