Acclaimed documentary filmmaker and cartoonist KP Sasi succumbed to prolonged illness and died at the age of 64. He breathed his last in a hospital in Thrissur.
K.P Sasi is one of the unsung heroes of the Indian parallel cinema movement. He worked as a cartoonist in his early days. His work consists of a diverse repertoire of feature films and music videos to a plethora of documentaries that touch every aspect of our lives.
His films are about social issues and social movements which cover diverse social sectors in India. He has made several documentaries on environmental issues, Adivasi struggles, displacement, and growing attacks on Christians in Orissa.
He used to call himself- “…an activist first and then a filmmaker.” Known for his incisive analysis, Sasi’s works explore the socio-economic contradictions and collision between the commercial interests and the lives of the masses as well as the socio-ecological issues that crop up in the name of ‘development’.
He was living in Bangalore but was active with people’s movements across India. His music videos “Gaon Chorab Nahi” and “America America” are hard-hitting reminders of violence thrust on the oppressed population by capitalism and Imperialism.
His documentaries include “A Valley Refuses to Die”, “We Who Make History”, “Living in Fear”, “In the Name of Medicine” and “Voices from a Disaster”.
His documentary film “Voices From the Ruins – Kandhamal in Search of Justice”, a documentary about large-scale violence against Christians in Odisha in 2007 and 2008 exposed the brutal horrors of RSS on the Adivasis Christians of Kandhamal, Orissa.
Sasi’s feature films include Ilayum Mullum, on the social and psychological violence against women in Kerala.
“Ek Alag Mausam (A Different Season) is a 2003 Hindi language movie directed by Sasi and starring Nandita Das, Anupam Kher, Renuka Shahane, Rajit Kapur, Arundathi Nag, Sreelatha and Sally Whittaker.
His father K. Damodaran (25 February 1912 – 3 July 1976) was a Marxist theoretician and writer and one of the founder leaders of the Communist Party in India.
