From 1970 to 1990, the Malayalam box office was ruled by I V Sasi. His three decade-long career catapulted him onto the highest platform in the industry and was known to be a revolutionary filmmaker. He is best known for establishing Mammooty and Mohanlal in the industry and has films like Devasuram, Mrigaya, Aavanazhi, AalkoottathilThaniye and AvaludeRavukal. He is also the winner of the JC Daniel Award for the year 2015. I V Sasi started his film career as an art director. Later, after working as an assistant director in some films, he directed his first film at the age of 27. Though his name was not mentioned in the credits, the film turned out to be a huge success. He started his directorial career officially with his first film Ulsavam. Soon he carved out a name for himself in the Malayalam film industry. His films were known for their uniqueness and always contained a stamp of his directorial style. I V Sasi has directed more than 170 odd films over a span of 34 years and has constantly delivered super hits and some of them classified as classics or good cinema.
Here's a list of his most iconic movies:
Devasuram
The film went on to become the highest grossing Malayalam film of the year. It won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Popular Film. Mohanlal as Mangalasery Neelakandan is one of the most famous characters reprised by Lal in Malayalam cinema. The rivalry between Mangalassery Neelakantan (Mohanlal) and Mundakkal Shekaran (Napoleon) forms the main theme of the film. The film ran for more than 150 days and was also remade in Telugu as Kunti Putrudu' with Mohan Babu and Vijayashanti playing the lead roles. A sequel to the movie titled Raavanaprabhu was released in 2001.
Avalude Raavukal
A 1978 Indian Malayalam film, it explores the life of Raji, a teenage prostitute and those of the people around her. It was Seema's debut movie and also had Sasi and Kamal Haasan making guest appearances. Upon release, the film received less audience in the first three days but the situation changed in the coming days and it became one of the highest-grossing films of the year.
Aavanazhi
A 1986 movie, Aavanazhi has Mammootty in the lead role as a police inspector. This film deals with social and political issues of that time. Starring with Mammootty in lead roles are Geetha, Seema, Sukumaran, Captain Raju, Janardanan, Jagannatha Varma, Innocent, Thikkurisi Sukumaran Nair, Sreenivasan and Sankaradi. The big success of Aavanazhi led to its remake in Tamil as Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu, in Telugu as Marana Sasanam and in Hindi as Satyamev Jayate. I.V. Sasi brought out two sequels — Inspector Balram in 1991 and Balram vs. Taradas in 2006.
Mrugaya
Mrugaya has Mammooty in the lead as a drunkard hunter who arrives in a village to kill a man-eating leopard. The film was a success at the box-office and won two Kerala State Film Awards. Interesting fact: The leopard in the movie was loaned out by animal trainer Govindarajan Naidu.
Aalkkoottathil Thaniye
An 1984 Malayalam film dwritten by M. T. Vasudevan Nair, this movie had a star cast with Mammootty, Mohanlal and Seema. The music was composed by Shyam and the lyrics were written by Kavalam Narayana Panicker.