Kochi: Renowned film-maker K S Sethumadhavan, who turned several Malayalam short stories and novels into movies by creating a cinematic language and style that matched the literary original, and who’s best remembered among Hindi film buffs as the director of Julie (1975), passed away at his residence in Chennai on Friday. He was 90.

An inter-community love story, Julie was a major box-office success, its melodious songs hummed to this day. Oldtimers would recall a young Sridevi essaying her first role in Hindi films. Yehi Hai Zindagi (1977), starring the very special Sanjeev Kumar, was another off-beat family drama directed by him.

In a career spanning almost six decades, Sethumadhavan won ten national film awards and eight Kerala state film awards and was bestowed the J C Daniel Award for his lifetime contribution to cinema in 2009. Kannum Karalum, Panithiratha Veedu, Chattakari and Vazhve Mayam were some of his movies that achieved cult status in Malayalam.

Starting his career as an assistant director in 1951, Sethumadhavan made his directorial debut with the Sinhalese movie Veeravijaya in 1961. He directed over 60 movies in different languages, including Malayalam, Kannada and Tamil.