South cinema's veteran stunt master Jolly Bastian passes away at 57

BENGALURU — Veteran stunt master Jolly Bastian, who worked in more than 900 Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam films, passed away following a massive heart attack at his residence in Bengaluru on Tuesday night. He was 57.

The bigwigs of the southern film industry, especially from the Kannada film industry where he began his career, expressed shock and paid condolences. Born in Alleppey, Kerala, Jolly Bastian was brought up in Bengaluru.

While performing a stunt on a bike, Jolly Bastian was spotted by renowned filmmaker and hero V. Ravichandran, and he started working as his stunt double. He had worked in most of Ravichandran’s movies as stunt master.

Originally a bike mechanic, Jolly Bastian went on to become a top stunt master. 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’.