Sangeeth Sivan, the renowned Malayalam director, died on Wednesday (May 8). He was a screenwriter in both the Malayalam and Hindi cinema industries, and his most significant accomplishment was directing the Malayalam film “Yodha” in 1992, which starred Mohanlal and Jagathy Sreekumar.
Sangeeth Sivan was born in 1959, the son of the renowned still photographer and cinematographer Sivan. After earning his pre-degree and B.Com. degrees from MG College and Mar Ivanios Colleges, he began his career in the film industry, working on documentaries alongside his father.
Sangeeth Sivan, filmmaker Sivan’s eldest son, comes from a family with deep roots in the film industry, as do his siblings Santosh Sivan and Sanjeev Sivan.
He began his career when Basu Bhattacharya hired him as executive producer for his son’s directorial debut, “Raakh,” which starred Aamir Khan and Pankaj Kapur.
Sivan went on to direct, making his Malayalam feature debut with “Vyooham,” which received a lot of attention. However, his breakthrough with the critically praised film “Yodha” cemented his position as a top filmmaker in the Malayalam cinema industry.
Sangeeth Sivan’s collaborations with Mohanlal in three of his films, “Yodha,” “Gandharvam,” and “Nirnayam,” have developed a cult following.
After directing more than a half-dozen Malayalam films, Sangeeth Sivan made his Bollywood debut with “Zor,” starring Sunny Deol. Despite the film’s underwhelming box office success, several producers praised Sivan’s direction. After a brief absence, he returned to work on Jackie Shroff’s film “Sandhya,” followed by Pantaloon’s “Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne.”
Sangeeth Sivan travelled to the United Kingdom in 2012 to direct the comedy film “Yamla Pagla Deewana 2,” which he collaborated on with the Deol family. The film was a sequel to the hit “Yamla Pagla Deewana” (2011), with Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, and Bobby Deol reprising their roles from the original.
