SATHYU AT 90

The affable, soft-spoken maker of the unforgettable Garm Hava turned 90 last month, as a new generation discovers the iconic film that is a landmark in Indian cinema

- Maithili Rao

It is rare, make it unique, for a novice director to scorch our conscience with a masterly first film, and also offer a healing touch that is relevant to this day. Garm Hava, released in 1974, is just shy of four years to complete 50 decades. In hindsight, M.S. Sathyu seems the most unlikely director to have bequeathed a classic that is so poignant, tender, and sharp in its understanding of people caught in history’s vortex, and makes a family’s intimate tragedy representative of the larger tragedy of Partition and sundered lives. His background of theatre art direction and experience of being Chetan Anand’s assistant did not prepare us for Garm Hava’s searing power to move us to tears.

Except for Ritwik Ghatak’s anguished epics, none of Bombay stalwarts even dared approach the wounds of the Partition. The South did not have the first-hand experience of the trauma of mass migrations and tribulations of people uprooted from homes amidst the mistrust and slumbering violence, that could blaze into a conflagration, at the slightest of reasons. Sathyu left the safe isolation of Mysore (the M in his initials stands for Mysore) to experience the liberating spirit of IPA (Indian People’s Theatre Association) and likeminded creative companions — Balraj Sahni, Kaifi Azmi, and Shama Zaidi, his wife and collaborator. Zaidi’s consummate touch of scripting and costume design adds immeasurable authenticity to his films.