Sreenivasan (1956-2025): The Wandering Wind

Remembering a voice that shaped Malayali sensibility.

Sreenivasan, one of the most influential figures in Malayalam cinema, passed away on Saturday morning, leaving behind a body of work that reshaped popular filmmaking in the state across four decades. Actor, screenwriter, and director, he stood at the centre of a cinematic moment when humour, social critique, and emotional intelligence coexisted with rare balance.

During an incredibly prolific and creative period between 1984 and 1998, Sreenivasan wrote the screenplays for 40 movies. FORTY. Not even one of them is unknown. If you look at the top grossers of each year, you will find at least one Sreenivasan film. If you look at the top conversation-starters each year, you will find at least one Sreenivasan film. You ask Malayalam film lovers to name their favourite films from the 80s and 90s, you will not find a list without a Sreenivasan film. This is not hyperbole. This is not an aadharanjali. This is just stating the obvious.

Sreenivasan started life as a background actor. A small cog in the film’s wheel. He was mostly a comic relief. But he was also a good enough actor to catch the eye of auteurs like G Aravindan, K G George and P A Backer. As a comedienne, he was never as acclaimed as Malayalam’s holy comic trinity – Pappu, Mala, Jagathy. But this also helped him not to be typecast.

He wrote his first filmed screenplay in 1984 for Priyadarshan – Odaruthammava Aalariyam (Don’t Run, Uncle, We Know You) (1984). Priyadarshan, who had started his career as a screenwriter, had just seen his debut movie become a milestone in Malayalam cinema and found a kindred soul in Sreenivasan. He was also smart enough to know a better writer when he saw one. Their association lasted 12 films. Most of them were screwball comedies that set the box office on fire. Only one of them – Oru Muthassi Katha – was not a commercial success.

A writer who defined an era

In 1986, Sreenivasan began a partnership that redefined popular Malayalam cinema. The year saw three movies that had the same credits – Written by Sreenivasan, Directed by Sathyan Anthikad. These films were funny, but not the screwball kind. They touched your heart, its characters felt like people you knew. The films touched on socio-political issues, but never in a way that its audiences were alienated.

 Each of their 15 associations will have its fans. For me, the masterpiece remains Sandesham (Message), the family drama that deals with the politicization of Malayali youth. A laugh riot, it treated the extremely sensitive issue with a relatable story. The dialogues have become legendary, with ‘Polandine patti oraksharam mindaruthu’ (Don’t say a word about Poland) becoming a line that refuses to die!

Malayalam cinema audiences always look down on their brethren in other states, pointing out the quality of their mainstream cinema. They talk about the high literacy rate as one of the reasons. People preferred a good story to impossible stunts or melodrama.

As someone who grew up in the 80s, I believe Sreenivasan and Sathyan had a big hand to play. They explored serious matters in a light and accessible manner. The spice levels were toned down, but the kick was still there. These movies not only alerted (I won’t use the term educated) the audience to things around them, but it also developed in them a sensibility that they took for granted from others.

Sreenivasan, the director, has only two credits. But they just seem to age like fine wine. Vadakkunokkiyanthram (Compass) is so much more than a black comedy it is usually referred to as. A light-hearted look into the fragile male ego and its repercussions of jealousy, the movie was not huge success. But it still comes up in discussions.

 The second one Chinthavishtayaya Shyamala (Shyamala, Lost in her Thoughts) started off as another family drama, but then moved into the scary territories of religion and its power to deprive people of their sense of responsibility. It was so ahead of its time. It would not have passed the censors now.

Partnerships that changed Malayalam films

Mohanlal, the superstar, owes his right hand and leg to Sreenivasan. The latter’s association with Priyadarshan provided the perfect showcase for Lal’s undeniably outrageous comedic skills. In cohort with Sathyan Anthikad, Sreenivasan established Lal as the common man that the Malayali identified with.

As a supporting actor in most of Mohanlal’s biggest hits of the 80s and early 90s, Sreenivasan provided the perfect foil for the hero to have the last word, the perfect repost. Most of which was written by Sreenivasan himself. Through three films by Sathyan and Priyadarshan, the characters of Dasan and Vijayan became the benchmark buddy comedy in Malayalam. As expected, no one has come remotely close.

Sreenivasan’s oeuvre is long and impressive. He was a three-headed hydra that ruled over our screens without ever seeming to. Sreenivasan has been feted and celebrated, and rightly so. But Malayalam Cinema can never pay its dues enough to a man who gave so much to it.

Decades will go and the audience’s sensibilities will change. Sreenivasan’s movies will slowly fade into the background like so many of the films of the 60s and 70s. But, for those of us lucky enough to have lived through his greatest years, there will never be one like him. And we will always remember Poland.