Raconteur Extraordinaire - Sreenivasan

Was discussing Malayalam movies with a friend the other day. And thought of writing my first blog entry on this topic itself, more specifically, on one of the best story/screenwriters Malayalam film industry has ever seen, Sreenivasan.

Although this short, dark man has made his mark on almost all movie genres, his masterworks have mostly been in the area of satires. I doubt if there has been a better exponent of satire in Malayalam than Sreenivasan. From political leaders (Sandesham) to movie stars (Udayanaanu Thaaram), people from various walks of life have been rendered victims of Sreenivasan's sarcasm. And seeing the kind of self-belittling roles and dialogues he plays and speaks in various movies, one wonders if the man is actually one filled with a lot of such complexes!!

Though his acting has drawn flak at times, there are some roles of Sreenivasan which no one else could have done with such originality. One such role which stands out is Prabhakaran in Sandesham, the diehard Communist leader. It is no wonder then that director Lal Jose chose Sreenivasan to play yet another hardcore communist role of Cuba Mukundan in the movie Arabikatha, which he did complete justice to. How many times has one seen him deliver those rib-tickling dialogues in the signature poker-faced style of his.

It is interesting to note that some of the best works of some directors like Priyadarshan, Kamal, Sathyan Anthikad etc. have happened when they partnered with Sreenivasan. Not to forget the 2 critically acclaimed directorial ventures by the man himself. And the number of directors who have debuted on his script, ranging from (the once-successful)Sibi Malayil to the latest director-on-the-block, M. Mohanan (Kadha Parayumbol).

All this notwithstanding, I must say that I didn't find his latest movie, Kadha Parayumbol, as impressive as it is being publicised to be. Although it had those quintessential Sreenivasan dialogues peppered all over the movie and was shot in that simplistic way that characterizes his scripts so much, many situations in the movie somehow reminded me of older scripts by Sreenivasan, like Azhakiya Raavanan and Chinthaavishtayaaya Shyamala. When compared to his older movies, this didn't seem to quite be on that level. I found it rather ironical that after having given so many brilliant movies, the movie of his that got the maximum hype hasn't been the best of his works.


It is heartening to see this man still going strong when there are not many stalwarts that remain. Works by people like M T Vasudevan Nair come up so few and far between that we never get enough of them. Other greats like Padmarajan, Bharathan etc. are no longer with us. And Lohithadas, Balachandra Menon etc. seem to have run out of fuel. Although Lohithadas still writes he hardly attains the high standards he once set for himself with movies like "Kireedom", "Bharatham", "His Highness Abdulla" etc. As for Balachandra Menon it is hard to believe that a man who once made movies like "Kuruppinte Kanakkupusthakam" could have come down to the level of his latest flick "De Ingottu Nokkiye"!! Sathyan Anthikkad has of late started penning the scripts for his movies again, but he is also getting repetitive in his style, which told on his latest venture "Innathe Chinthavishayam". Although the movie was decent it was nowhere close to what one would expect out of Anthikkad-Lal combo. Unless he brings about some change in his style or decides to team up with someone like Sreenivasan again, we shall be losing yet another great director. So here is wishing that Sreenivasan still goes on spinning out classy scripts off his pen, as the Malayalam filmdom is otherwise in serious danger of being reduced to a melee of no-brainer comedies and dubbed movies.