Sasi Shanker

Sasi Shanker (1957 – 10 August 2016) was an Indian film director. He directed a total of twelve films including ten Malayalam films and two Tamil films. He won the National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues in 1993 for his directorial debut film Naaraayam.

Career Shanker pursued his career in filmmaking as an assistant director to the prominent Malayalam director P. A. Backer and Shanker collaborated with Backer in three of his films. He later joined hands with Sathyan Anthikad as his assistant director with whom he had worked in nearly 30 films.

After gaining a significant learning curve and knowledge by being an assistant director in over 30 films, he plied his trade by venturing into independent filmmaking. He eventually made rapid strides and a phenomenal start to his career as a fully fledged film director, as his debut film, Naarayam, fetched him the prestigious national film award at the 41st National Film Awards. According to insider sources, it was reportedly Suriya who himself had invited Shanker on board to discuss the possibility of remaking the Kunjikoonan film in Tamil-language, which Shanker had been willing to do upon negotiations. He died at his residence at Pancode, a village which is located near Kolanchery. He had been under treatment for diabetes for a few years prior to his death, and his deteriorating health conditions eventually ended his chances of making a comeback as a director in mainstream cinema.

Filmography As a film director Year Film Language Notes 1993 Naaraayam Malayalam 1995 Punnaram Malayalam 1997 Manthra Mothiram Malayalam 1997 Guru Sishyan Malayalam 2000 Mr. Butler Malayalam 2002 Kunjikoonan Malayalam 2004 Perazhagan Tamil 2005 Sarkar Dada Malayalam 2014 Pagadai Pagadai Tamil

As a writer