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M. S. Sathyu

Written By - Team Nettv4u

Mysore Shrinivas Sathyu is a prolific film director, art director and stage manager who is known best for his debut as a film director in Garam Hawa. He was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri in 1975. Born in Mysore in India, on July 6, 1930, he is also well-known for his collaboration with Google for the reunion ad series, which went socially viral. MS Sathyu is married to actress, Shama Zaidi.

His daughter, Seema Sathyu Bio coming soon... >> Read More... is an actress, painter. MS Sathyu was a political enthusiast right from his early years and even took part in a congress movement back in Mysore, which stems his interest in politics, clearly shown by the nature of his films. His early interests include painting, yet he was unable to pursue that further and took up Bachelor of Science course in Bangalore.

Swayed by his keen interest design he left his degree course midway, in 1952 and went to Mumbai( then Bombay) to follow his passion and make a career, taking a stipend of Rs 50 per month from his father. After working as an animator and facing about four years of struggle, his work on a cerain Shakespeare plays impressed filmmaker Chetan Anand Chetan Anand (from 3 January 1921 to 6 July 1997) >> Read More... . MS Sathyu wanted to be employed as an art director but got a job as his assistant director.

He managed to satisfy his creative energies by designing a few costumes for the art director of the film. Following this, he was part of 3-4 more collaborations with Chetan Anand after which he moved to Delhi in the mid-1950’s. In Delhi, he worked at Patriot and Link newspaper to earn his living. He also worked for the Okhla Theatre of Habib Tanvir Habib Tanvir was an acclaimed poet, actor, theatre >> Read More... which is now the Hindustani theatre.

Its first drama, called Shakuntala in Urdu, a language MS Sathyu was drawn to, because of its calligraphy and artistic appeal. Shakuntala faced criticism for having Shakuntala and other characters deliver dialogues in Urdu, yet didn't break his determination.

After spending around ten years in Delhi, he was contacted by Chetan Anand for Art Directorial debut in his next film Haqeeqat, based on Indo-China aggression in 1962. Haqeeqat went on to earn him the Filmfare Best Art Direction Award in 1966.

After this, there was no looking back. He made his debut as a director with the movie Garm Hava (1973) which shed light on the subject of Indo-Pak partition. He believed in making political statements through his films and never shied away from stating his political opinions.

Garm Hava received a lot of appreciation and was even nominated at Oscars, presented at Cannes Film Festival in 1974 and nominated at Chicago film festival in 1975. It also won MS Sathyu both public and critical acclaim along with the National Film Award for being the Best Feature Film on National Integration.

Apart from this, his work in films like Bara and Sookha earned him more awards and praises. He has been part of in Hindi, Urdu and Kannada collaborations including fifteen documentaries as well as eight feature films. He also holds credits for introducing some exceptionally talented actors like Anil Kapoor, Pankaj Kapoor, Farooq Sheikh.

His undisputed keen interest in theatre led him to be part of the production of many theatre plays, Dara Shikoh, Mote Ram Ke Sathyagrah, Amrita, Mudrarkshas, Aakhri Shama, Girija Ke Sapne(with IPTA), Rashomon, Bakri( a satire on politics)being some of the significant ones. He was presented the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1994 and the 2015 Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellow award for Stagecraft.

Even though personally not a fan of acting himself, he has been part of a Google ad series and some other small roles. He has also lent his experience towards documentaries and short films, Black Mountain, Irshad, Islam in India and Ghalib to name a few.

He has been part of Television through television serials like Pratidhwani (1985), Antim Raja (1986, about the last king of Coorg), Choli Daaman (1987–88) and televised films Ek Hadsa Char Pehlu, Thangam, and Aangan. His most talked about film Garm Hawa was re-released in 2014, as he believed the youth of the country must be fully aware of the events that took place in past and their effects on the country’s people.

He participated in the Tax Denial Satyagraha in support of handmade products in 2017 and remains clear and vocal about his opinions on social and political issues. He works with IPTA (Indian People's Theatre Association), believes in a living life full of hard work optimism, participates actively in talks and sessions and continues to impart knowledge and experience about his craft with others.

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