Filmmaker Sangeeth Sivan passes away in Mumbai
Some works leave a lasting impression in the entire career of a lmmaker, eclipsing everything else he or she would go on to do later in their career. For Sangeeth Sivan, who passed away at a private hospital in Mumbai on Wednesday at 65, that work came quite early in his career.
Yodha (1992), his second lm, would cement his name in Malayalam cinema as one of the lms with the highest repeat watch value.
Although liberally in«uenced from a Hollywood lm (The Golden Child), as are many of his other works, the lm written by Sasidharan Arattuvazhi had some original humour, elevated on screen by memorable performances from Jagathy Sreekumar and Mohanlal.
Sangeeth also brought in A.R. Rahman to score a wildly successful album for the lm.
Son of photographer and lmmaker Sivan , cinema has always been a part of Sangeeth’s life. Beginning his career assisting his father in documentaries, he was inspired by lmmaker and cinematographer Santosh Sivan, his younger brother, to shift to feature lms.
Though his rst stint was in Bollywood as an executive producer in Aamir Khan-starrer Raakh (1989), he chose Malayalam for his debut directorial Vyooham (1990), a thriller loosely inspired from Lethal Weapon.
In Hindi, the tone of his lms changed from subtle to loud, notable in lms such as Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne, Kyaa Kool Hain Hum and Apna Sapna Money Money, some of which were commercially successful.
Just a few days ahead of his passing, he was busy with the post-production work of his next Hindi directorial Kapkapii.