Sathyu is married to Shama Zaidi, a north Indian Shia Muslim.

[2] His best known work, Garm Hava (Scorching Winds, 1973), is one of the last cinema productions featuring 1950s Marxist cultural activists including Balraj Sahni and Kaifi Azmi.

In 2013, Sathyu featured in the popular Google Reunion ad, where he played the role of Yusuf, an elderly Pakistani man who is reunited with his childhood pre-partition friend from India, Baldev (Vishwa Mohan Badola).

He directed musical play Gul E Bakavali written by Sudheer Attavar; represented 8th World Theatre Olympics in year 2018 .

He also directed plays like 'Dara Shikoh', Amrita, Bakri, Kuri, Akhri Shama and many more.