If by chance you hail from the epoch of bell-bottoms or trod the boards of Kannada theatre in the flamboyant ’80s, the mention of MS Sathyu would resonate with illustrious familiarity. On one hand, his foray into the realm of cinema yielded the critically acclaimed ‘Garam Hava’ (1974), while on the other, his exquisite set designs captivated theatre aficionados across various troupes. His work for the play ‘Nagamandala’ remains an enduring testament to his genius.
The venerable roll call of honours that Sathyu has amassed befits a man of his caliber. ‘Garam Hava’ made waves with a Palme d’Or nomination at the Cannes Film Festival, and the emotionally potent ‘Bara’ (1982) received the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Kannada. His contributions to ‘Haqeeqat’ (1964) earned him a Filmfare Best Art Direction Award, and his distinguished service to the arts was recognised with the Padma Shri. Adding to his trove, MS Sathyu was recently honored with the 2024 BIFFES Lifetime Achievement Award. An inexhaustible source of creativity, his contributions have established him as nothing short of an institutional pillar for students of both theatre and film.
At the venerable age of 93, Sathyu sits down to reflect upon his lifelong dalliance with theatre, cinema and the evocative craft of set design, particularly as ‘Garam Hava’ approaches its 50-year anniversary.
Given his extensive expertise as an animator, art director, and director, Sathyu holds these disciplines not as separate entities but as deeply interconnected. His entry into Mumbai’s creative landscape at the tender age of 22 threw him into a maelstrom of opportunity, which he adeptly navigated due to his proficiencies in drawing and painting. From the humble beginnings in a small studio creating animations for soap advertisements, Sathyu’s career evolved into more expansive creative endeavors.
When prompted about ‘Garam Hava’ and its exploration of Partition’s latent anguish, Sathyu admits to a certain detachment, having not experienced its terrors himself. But he was driven by a profound desire to translate the poignant tales of friends into a cinematic canvas without losing their essence. While ‘Garam Hava’ remains the more memorable of his works, it is the Kannada film ‘Bara’ that lies closer to his heart—a project ignited and sustained by sheer passion.
As an artist, the infiltration of political beliefs into work is an omnipresent challenge. For Sathyu, a self-professed Marxist, his political leanings invariably tint his body of work, whether consciously or not, though he eschews formal affiliations with political parties.
His discerning eye observes the contemporary landscape of cinema as a space that has become ‘much more open,’ but not devoid of shortcomings. Sathyu criticizes the formulaic approach of today’s filmmakers, how certain narrative tropes, like an untimely downpour, betray a lack of authenticity. The advent of streaming services and digital platforms, in his view, have narrowed expression and done substantial damage to the human psyche. For Sathyu, art is meant to uplift the human spirit, a principle seemingly subverted by the current trends in cinema consumption.
Despite his success in Hindi cinema, with seminal works like ‘Haqeeqat’ among his nine films, Sathyu reflects on the intricacies of film financing and the complexities introduced by political ideologies. His work introduced talents such as Pankaj Kapur, Sharon Prabhakar, and even Anil Kapoor to Hindi cinema, with Kapoor’s first role in a Hindi film being Sathyu’s ‘Kahan Kahan Se Guzar Gaya.’
In the world of theatre, Sathyu sees no ebbing tide. Theatre, he argues, retains its vibrancy through the immediate and palpable relationship between performer and audience—an intimacy cinema cannot replicate. He references a recent play, ‘Bendakalu on Toast,’ as an example of an idea uniquely suitable to theatre, wherein any other medium would dilute its impact.
As for the recognition from BIFFES, Sathyu characterizes it as a gift, expressing a modest disinterest born from a veteran’s perspective. The excitement that once accompanied his Filmfare win for the art direction of ‘Haqeeqat,’ set amidst the stark beauty of Ladakh, contrasts with his subdued response to lifetime accolades. And yet, his approach to ‘Haqeeqat’ still reveals his dedication to authenticity and to honouring the experience of the Indian soldiers he depicted—a discipline and ethos that he embeds within all his creative pursuits.
Reflecting upon a prolific career that oscillates between the performative immediacy of theatre and the enduring power of cinema, MS Sathyu remains an indomitable figure whose work continues to inspire generations of artists and audiences alike.
