Sanal Kumar Sasidharan (born 8 April 1977) is an Indian poet, lawyer, and

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

Personal life

Sanal Kumar Sasidharan was born in

Perumkadavila Neyyattinkara, is a Municipal Town and a major industrial and commercial hub located at the southern tip of Thiruvananthapuram metropolitan area in Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala State, and also the headquarters of Neyyattinkara Taluk. The ...

village,

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

district, Kerala on 8 April 1977. He graduated in

Zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

from VTM NSS College Dhanuvachapuram, Trivandrum and law, then started his job as a lawyer. He was associated with

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) () is a right-wing all India student organisation affiliated to the Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). History The ABVP, founded in 1948 with the initiative of the RSS ...

(ABVP), a student organization associated with the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

, and was the unit secretary of the ABVP during his days at the Law College. He later left ABVP over political differences, and became a critic of the BJP-controlled Central government. In 2001, he formed a film society,

Kazhcha Chalachithra Vedi Kazhcha Chalachithra Vedi or Kazhcha Film Forum is a film collective in Kerala, India. It started in the year 2001 at Neyyattinkara thaluk in Thiruvananthapuram district as a collective effort of film lovers. It has produced three short films. I ...

with his colleagues, for making independent movies through crowd funding. He has started his film making journey by directing three short films and one feature film through crowdfunding. Later on, he directed six more critically acclaimed feature films and a documentary. He was awarded the

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

in the

Kerala State Film Award The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala and since 1998 the awards have been bestowed by Kerala State Cha ...

s 2014. He was awarded the Tiger Award in the

International Film Festival Rotterdam The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Since its foundation in 1972, it has maintained a focus on independent and experimental fi ...

for his film Sexy Durga. Prakash Raj with sanalkumar sasidharan at KLF 18

Film career

His film career started in 2000 as an Art Assistant in the

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

film ''Mankolangal''. After that he made his first short movie ''Wonder world'' in 2001. The cinematography was by

Sunny Joseph Sunny Joseph (born 12 October 1957) is an Indian cinematographer and director from Kerala, most known for his work in Shaji N. Karun classic, ''Piravi'', for which he won the 1988 Kerala State Film Award for Best Photography and Caméra d'Or � ...

and editing by

Beena Paul Bina Paul (born January 28, 1961), also known by her married name Bina Paul Venugopal, is an Indian film editor who works mainly in Malayalam-language films. A graduate of the University of Delhi, she completed a course on film editing from the ...

. The short fiction was produced by

by way of crowd funding. There was a long gap after his first short movie. In 2008 he directed ''Parole'' produced by a group of friends from Malayalam blog community. His third short film ''Frog'', won a Kerala State Television Award for best short film in 2008. In 2014

produced his first feature-length movie ''

Oraalppokkam Oraalppokkam is a Malayalam film written and directed by Sanalkumar Sasidharan. It is the first Malayalam movie which has been produced through online crowdfunding program. This is an initiative of Kazhcha Chalachithra Vedi, a film society move ...

'' for which he had been awarded the

. The film has got

fipresci The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la PRESse CInématographique) is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world fo ...

and

Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema The Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) is a worldwide organization of 29 member countries. It was created as the result of a conference on Asian cinema organized by Cinemaya, the Asian Film Quarterly, in New Delhi in 1990 at the inst ...

awards for the best Malayalam film in the

International Film Festival of Kerala The International Film Festival of Kerala (abbreviated as IFFK) is a film festival held annually in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. This film festival started in 1996 and is hosted by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy ...

2014. He has also bagged the

Kerala State Film Award for Best Director The Kerala State Film Award for Best Director is an honour presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards of India since 1969. It is given to a film director who has exhibited outstanding direction while working in the Malayalam film industry. ...

in 2014. His second movie ''Ozhivudivasathe Kali'' (An Off-Day Game), which was completed in 2015 has been officially selected to

and

Mumbai Film Festival The Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) is a public trust that organises the annual international film festival in Mumbai famously known as the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. Actor, producer and author Priyanka Chopra Jonas is the Chairperson ...

. It has also bagged the Kerala State Film Awards for best film in 2015. The film was in the Film Basar Recommends in the Film Basar in Goa.

International recognition

His 2017 film Sexy Durga, later renamed as

S Durga ''Sexy Durga'' (Changed into ''S Durga'' for Indian release) is a 2017 Indian Malayalam-language indie horror film directed by Sanal Kumar Sasidharan. The film is about the religious divide in the society of Kerala and its effect on marriage ...

following a controversy regarding the title and a ban by

Central Board of Film Certification The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provision ...

in India, has received Hivos Tiger Award in

2017. Sexy Durga is the first ever Indian film win this award. The film, cinematographed by

Prathap Joseph Prathap Joseph is an Indian journalist, cinematographer and filmmaker. Career He belongs to new-age indie filmmakers from Kerala. Active in filmmaking since 2010, he has conducted workshops in cinematography and filmmaking at the K. R. Naraya ...

also has won eight more international awards including the Award for Professional Achievement in the

Tarkovsky Film Festival Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky ( rus, Андрей Арсеньевич Тарковский, p=ɐnˈdrʲej ɐrˈsʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ tɐrˈkofskʲɪj; 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Russian filmmaker. Widely considered one of the greates ...

in Russia for the excellence in cinematography, the Golden Apricot Award in the International Feature Competition category in

Yerevan International Film Festival The ''Golden Apricot'' Yerevan International Film Festival (GAIFF) ( hy, «Ոսկե Ծիրան» Երևանի միջազգային կինոփառատոն) is an annual film festival held in Yerevan, Armenia. The festival was founded in 2004 w ...

2017, Best International Feature Narrative in Guanajuato International Film Festival, Mexico

Expresión en Corto International Film Festival The Guanajuato International Film Festival or GIFF is an annual international film festival, held since 1998. It is held during the final week of July in San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato City, Mexico. GIFF was formerly known as Expresión en Co ...

2017, Best International Feature award Reflet d’Or in the Geneva International Film Festival, The Young Jury award and a Special mention from the official Jury in the 53rd Pesaro Film Festival in Italy, Jury Mention for Direction and Original Music track in Cinema Jove - International Film Festival of Valencia, Spain, Special Jury mention in the 19th Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI). The work in progress project of the film had also received NFDC FILM BAZAAR – DI Award 2016. The film had to face huge controversy with regard to its title and made headlines following the

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India) Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (Ministry of I&B) is a ministerial level agency of the Government of India responsible for the formulation and administration of rules, regulations and laws in the areas of information, broadcasting, the ...

has denied the permission to screen the film in the

International Film Festival of India The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually, currently in the state of Goa, on the western coast of the country, the festival aims at providing a common pla ...

after the Jury selection. His next feature after Sexy Durga, Unmadiyude Maranam produced in 2018 has not been censored and released. The film also has not been screened in any major film festivals. His next feature film Chola has been premiered in the

76th Venice International Film Festival The 76th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 28 August to 7 September 2019. Film director Lucrecia Martel was appointed as the President of the Jury. ''The Truth'', directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, was selected to open the fest ...

in the Orizzonti Competition section. The main actors,

Nimisha Sajayan Nimisha Sajayan (born 4 January 1997) is an Indian actress in the Malayalam film industry. Nimisha made her acting debut with the film '' Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum'' directed by Dileesh Pothan. She won the Kerala State Film Award for Best A ...

has received the

Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress The Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress is an honour presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards of India since 1969 to an actress for the best performance within the Malayalam film industry. Until 1997, the awards were managed direc ...

and actor

Joju George Joseph George, better known as Joju George (born 22 October 1977) is an Indian actor, playback singer and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has acted in Malayalam films and worked on Tamil projects as well. In 2015, he won the ...

has won the

Kerala State Film Award for Best Character Actor The Kerala State Film Award for Best Character Actor is an award, begun in 2015, presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards of India to an actor for his performance in a Malayalam film. It replaced the Kerala State Film Award for Second ...

and

Kerala State Film Award – Special Mention The Kerala State Film Award – Special Mention is an award presented at the Kerala State Film Awards of India. Recipients See also * Kerala State Film Award – Special Jury Award The Kerala State Film Award – Special Jury Award is an ...

for Direction and Sound design to Sanal Kumar Sasidharan. His latest feature film project Ah'r (Kayattam), announced in 2019 has been noted for the presence of acclaimed Malayalam actress

Manju Warrier Manju Warrier (; born 10 September 1978) is an Indian actress, producer, classical dancer and playback singer who primarily appears in Malayalam language films. She is the recipient of several awards including one National Film Award, one Kera ...

as protagonist and a co-producer.

Filmography

Awards

* Hivos Tiger Award

in 2017 * Golden Apricot Award

in 2017 * Award for the Best International Feature in the

/Guanajuato International Film Festival, Mexico *Disruptor Award

Indian Film Festival of Melbourne The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) is a Victoria State Government-funded annual festival based in Melbourne founded in 2012. It is presented by Film Victoria, and the provider is chosen through a tender process. The current tender prov ...

in 2021 * Jury Mention For Direction in Valencia International Film Festival Cinema Jove in 2017 *

Kerala State Film Award for Best Film The Kerala State Film Award for Best Film is an award presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards of India to the best film in Malayalam cinema. The awards are managed directly by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy under the Department ...

in the 2015 Kerala State Film Awards * Best Director award in the

2014 Kerala State Film Awards The awards were presented by Chief minister of Kerala Oommen Chandy on 26 December 2015, with the presence of the chief guest Mohanlal. Jury The 10-member jury, headed by John Paul, was composed of people representing different areas of cinem ...

*Special Jury award in the

John Abraham John Abraham (born 17 December 1972) is an Indian actor, film producer, writer and former model working in Hindi films. He has won a National Film Award and received five Filmfare nominations. After modelling for advertisements and companies ...

Awards 2014 *Special Jury mention in 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 ...

2014 *Mohan Raghavan award Best director 2014

References

External links

*
Official Website

Fipresci Profile

Kiff2014 profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sasidharan, Sanal Kumar Malayalam film directors 1977 births Living people Film directors from Thiruvananthapuram 21st-century Indian film directors