Sashi Kumar (born 23 February 1952) is an Indian journalist and media personality from

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. He worked in

Asianet Asianet may refer to: Disney Star channels *Asianet Communications, an Indian media company wholly owned by Disney Star **Asianet (TV channel), a Malayalam language general entertainment channel **Asianet Plus, a Malayalam language general entertai ...

, the country's first regional satellite television channel. He founded and chairs the Media Development Foundation, the not for profit public trust which set up and runs the

Asian College of Journalism The Asian College of Journalism (ACJ) is a journalism school in Chennai, India, which offers postgraduate diploma courses in journalism. History Asian College of Journalism, Chennai was founded in Bangalore as the Asian School of Journalism, Ba ...

in Chennai. He was the first West Asia correspondent of ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'' in the mid eighties. He directed the film '' Kaya Taran'' in Hindi based on the short story ''Vanmarangal Veezhumbol'' ('' When Big Trees Fall'') by writer

N. S. Madhavan N. S. Madhavan (born 9 September 1948) is an Indian writer of Malayalam literature. Known for his novel, ''Lanthan Batheriyile Luthiniyakal'' (Litanies of the Dutch Battery) and a host of short stories such as ''Higuita'', ''Thiruthu'', ''Chulai ...

.Welcome to Cerebrate
He is currently the chairman of Asian College of Journalism, Chennai.

Early life and education

Sashi Kumar was born at Karupadanna near

Kodungallur Kodungallur (; also Cranganore, Portuguese: Cranganor; formerly known as Mahodayapuram, Shingly, Vanchi, Muchiri, Muyirikkode, and Muziris) is a historically significant town situated on the banks of river Periyar on the Malabar Coast in Th ...

in Thrissur District of the erstwhile State of Travancore–Cochin. He did his schooling at the

Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Chennai Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School is located in Egmore, Chennai. The school was established in July 1958 with 140 students and Fr. Mallon as the principal, and has since grown to over 5000 students. The school is affiliated to mat ...

. He then completed his graduation from

Loyola College, Chennai Loyola College is a private Catholic higher education institution run by the Society of Jesus in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was founded in 1925 by the French Jesuit priest, Francis Bertram, along with other European Jesuits. It is an auton ...

, and took post graduation in history from the Madras Christian College.

Career

Sashi Kumar started his career in Doordarshan (DD) as a newsreader and producer. Later he worked in PTI-TV as chief producer and general manager of PTI. He authored and presented independent programs on the economy, politics and culture on Indian television like ''Money Matters'', ''Tana Bana'' and ''Jan Manch''. Sashi Kumar is a well known filmmaker as well. He scripted and directed '' Kaya Taran'' (''Chrysalis'') in Hindi based on the story ''Vanmarangal Veezhumbol'' ('' When Big Tree Falls'') by writer

. The film won him the

Aravindan Puraskaram Aravindan Puraskaram (Aravindan Award) is an award instituted in 1991 in the memory of iconic Malayalam filmmaker G. Aravindan for the best debutant director in Indian languages. The award comprises Rs. 25,000, a memento and a citation. The award i ...

as the best debut filmmaker of 2004. He acted in Malayalam movies, ''Iniyum Marichittillatha Nammal'', '' Balyakalasakhi'', ''

Loudspeaker A loudspeaker (commonly referred to as a speaker or speaker driver) is an electroacoustic transducer that converts an electrical audio signal into a corresponding sound. A ''speaker system'', also often simply referred to as a "speaker" or ...

'', ''

Ennu Ninte Moideen ''Ennu Ninte Moideen'' (English: ''Yours Truly, Moideen'') is a 2015 Indian Malayalam-language biographical romantic drama film written and directed by R. S. Vimal, based on the real-life story of Kanchanamala and B. P. Moideen, which took pla ...

'' and ''

Love 24x7 ''Love 24x7'' is a 2015 Indian Malayalam romantic comedy film written and directed by debutante Sreebala K Menon starring Dileep and debutante Nikhila Vimal in lead roles while Sreenivasan, Suhasini, Sashi Kumar and Lena plays the supporting r ...

''.

Position

* Member, Empowered Committee on Information, Communication & Technology (ICE), Prime Minister’s Office, New Delhi. * Member,India Director on the Board of Real News – Independent World Television. * Member of the Anjuman (court) of the Jamia Millia Islamia University, Delhi, South Asia Foundation (SAF). * Chairman,

* Chief Editor, Asiaville https://www.asiavillenews.com/about

Filmography

Bibliography

* ''Unmediated: Essays on Media, Culture and Cinema'',

Tulika Books Tulika Books is a New Delhi-based independent publisher of scholarly and academic books in the humanities and social sciences, with a "broadly left perspective." The Chennai-based Tulika Publishers is a sister company of Tulika Books. History ...

, 2014

Award

*2007: Viayaraghavan Memorial Award for his contribution to journalism *2005: G. Aravindan Award for Best Debut Filmmaker for ''Kaya Taran''

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Sashi Malayali people Journalists from Kerala People from Thrissur district Living people Indian male television journalists Hindi-language film directors Indian television presenters Writers from Kerala Malayalam-language journalists University of Madras alumni Television personalities from Kerala 1952 births