Veteran Malayalam actor, screenwriter, director and producer Sreenivasan passed away a couple of days ago at the age of 69. He was a long-time collaborator with filmmaker Priyadarshan. The director got talking about the late artist in an interview with us.

Priyadarshan on his friend and collaborator Sreenivasan, "He had an unbelievable sense of humour"

Priyadarshan on his friend and collaborator Sreenivasan, “He had an unbelievable sense of humour”

Your association with Sreenivasan is not just as actor-director, but he also co-wrote some of your earlier films
Not only co-wrote, he wrote a lot of my films. I have done around 21 films with him. Yeah so, I mean, definitely more than anything, here was an erudite man, an incorrigible humourist, a voracious reader, with so much of vision on politics and social issues.

In short an evolved artiste
Yes, and he had a deadly sense of humor. He has never offended anyone in spite of all his criticism on Communism or any isms; nobody turned against him for his critical satire because of his sense of humour. The socio-political criticism was hard hitting always. But he used to soften the blow with his humour; dilute the deadly impact with unbelievable pure sense of wit.

So, did you use his political comment or just his sense of humour in your cinema?
No, no, lot of films I did with him in the South about social issues of Kerala.

Did you first know him as an actor or as a writer?
Both. He has done films as an actor with me, because he was a very popular actor also. His combination with Mohanlal was very talked about those days. He has directed only two films, but those two films are supposed to be classics.

Did you share a bonding beyond cinema with him?
We had a great relationship, more like friends than as filmmakers. Initially, when I started doing slapstick humour and all, he is the one who told me, why can’t we use humour to address social issues. He was known as the Satire King of Kerala. His political humour was akin to R.K Laman. Political satire is a very, very difficult genre. But the best part is, even a rickshaw-driver understood Sreenivasan’s humour, so well he used to write. Political satire will offend someone or the other. Of course, he got threats and all, but at the same time, people smiled at it.

Priyan, could you tell me about the first time you worked with him?
I met him through Mammootty, because he was Mammootty’s friend. And Mammootty introduced him to me, but he was struggling at that time. So, he says that it is I who made him a writer. So, whenever he got an award, he said it belonged to Priyan. Do you know why?

No tell me?
Because in the beginning he was an actor, then he was struggling to be actor, he never wanted to be a writer. So, once I got stuck in a script, and he came to my rescue, albeit very reluctantly. He was doing small films at that time, not working very much. I also had just started my career. And when he came to me, I said, ‘You want to act?’ He replied, ‘Yes, that’s why I came.’ So I gave him an ultimatum. Okay, if you want to act, you have to write.

So, how did you know there was a writer within him?
No, because I knew him, and we used to discuss, and he used to put forward his ideas with great clarity and interest. See, he never used to write, but he used to sit and give suggestions to writers. I found that he’s better than those writers. But then, when I was desperate, I said, if you write you can get a good role. He said, you can write it yourself. So, because I had only a plot, and the shooting was about to start in another five days. Right. But he said, I can’t write I’m not a writer. I said, okay, then go home, no role. You are not getting a role unless you write. If you write, you can.

So what was his response?
So, he said, okay, I can go home. My issue is, I have nothing to do at home. So, better I write.

So you coaxed him to become a writer because he had nothing to do at home?
Yeah, and because, I told him he would get a role even if he wrote. He had an unbelievable sense of humour. Recently, about ten days back, he fell down. I told him, Srini, we are both becoming old. We have to be careful, no? He says, I was careful. But what about this floor? At least, the floor should understand an old man is walking, no? He was an amazing guy. He could see humour in every situation. He wasonly one of his kind. There is nobody else. Nobody like him has ever happened in the history of Malayalam cinema and literature.

But do you think he was a better writer than an actor?
He was a much better writer than an actor, eventhoughhe acted in more films than he wrote. There was another director called Satya Nandikar. We both worked maximum number of films with Sreenivasan.

Priyan, you have worked with a whole lot of really brilliant artists, whether it is actors, writers, musicians. I mean, have they enriched your life?
Yes, definitely. No, film is not a one-man job. It is a team effort. Right, right, right. So it is better, where you areweak, you find strong people to support your film. I never call my film, I say our film. You need people who are better than you for you to learn and go forward. Mine is a journey of 40 years and 98 films. I did whatever I felt right. Sometimes, most of the time it worked and many times it flopped. But I don’t care about that because that is what I wanted to do. When I touch 100, I will say goodbye to cinema.

You will do no such thing. You will make another 100 after that?
No, I won’t direct. Maybe I will write.

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