Stunt master Jolly Bastian who choreographed fights in 'Kannur Squad', 'Angamaly Diaries' no more

Bengaluru: Veteran stunt master Jolly Bastian, who worked in over 900 Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam films, passed away at his residence in Bengaluru on Tuesday night. He was 57. The stunt choreographer, reportedly, suffered a massive heart attack.

Bastian who worked mostly in Kannada films, was also the stunt master in several Malayalam movies. His most recent project in Mollywood was 'Kannur Squad'. The film's scriptwriter and actor Rony David recalled how he single-handedly choreographed the car-chasing scenes in the blockbuster movie.

Though Bastian was born in Alappuzha, he was raised in Bengaluru. He was spotted by renowned filmmaker and hero V Ravichandran, while performing a stunt on his bike. Though he was a bike mechanic, he soon switched careers to become one of the top stunt masters in the South Indian movie industry. He debuted as a body double in Ravichandran's Telugu flick 'Premaloka'.

In Mollywood, he worked as a fight master in movies like 'Operation Java', 'Angamaly Diaries', among others. He was noted for performing several risky scenes in big films. Bastian has often spoken about the risks involved in his profession.

He made his debut as a director with the movie 'Ninagaagi Kaadiruve' in 2009. Jolly Bastian directed stunts for KGF fame superstar Yash’s ‘Masterpiece’, a Kannada movie. Jolly Bastian also contributed to Kannada star and director Duniya Vijay’s yet to be released film ‘Bheema’.