Sreenivasan

Overview

Sreenivasan (2 May 1950 – 20 December 2025) was an Indian actor, screenwriter, film director and producer who worked predominantly in Malayalam cinema. Over a career spanning more than four decades, he appeared in over 225 films and wrote the screenplays of several works regarded as landmarks of Malayalam cinema. He was known for his collaborations with directors such as Priyadarshan, Sathyan Anthikad and Kamal, and for the satirical, socially observant tone of his writing.

Key facts

Career as screenwriter

Sreenivasan was among the most influential screenwriters of Malayalam cinema from the mid-1980s onwards. His scripts often combined comedy with sharp social and political commentary. Key screenplays include:

• Odaruthammava Aalariyam (1984)
• Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam (1986)
• Gandhinagar 2nd Street (1986)
• Nadodikkattu (1987)
• Pattanapravesham (1988)
• Varavelpu (1989)
• Thalayana Manthram (1990)
• Sandesam (1991)
• Midhunam (1993)
• Mazhayethum Munpe (1995)
• Azhakiya Ravanan (1996)
• Oru Maravathoor Kanavu (1998)
• Udayananu Tharam (2005)
• Katha Parayumpol (2007)
• Njan Prakashan (2018), one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of all time

He won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Screenplay twice, for Sandesam and Mazhayethum Munpe.

Career as director

Sreenivasan scripted and directed two feature films:

• Vadakkunokkiyanthram (1989) — winner of the Kerala State Film Award for Best Film.
• Chinthavishtayaya Shyamala (1998) — winner of the National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues, and the Kerala State Film Award for Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value at the 29th Kerala State Film Awards.

Career as producer

Under the banner Lumiere Film Company, which he ran with the actor Mukesh, Sreenivasan co-produced Katha Parayumpol (2007) and Thattathin Marayathu (2012).

Awards and honours

• National Film Award
• National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues — Chinthavishtayaya Shyamala
• Two Filmfare Awards South
• Six Kerala State Film Awards, including Best Screenplay for Sandesam and Mazhayethum Munpe, and Best Film for Vadakkunokkiyanthram

Significance

Sreenivasan's screenplays helped define a strand of Malayalam cinema that combined mainstream entertainment with pointed satire on politics, middle-class aspirations, the film industry itself and Kerala society. Films such as Nadodikkattu, Sandesam, Varavelpu and Udayananu Tharam are widely cited as classics of the language. His on-screen persona — often that of an ordinary, flawed everyman — became a recurring presence in the work of directors such as Sathyan Anthikad and Priyadarshan.

Related topics

• Malayalam cinema
• Sathyan Anthikad
• Priyadarshan
• Kamal (director)
• Mukesh (actor)
• Kerala State Film Awards
• National Film Awards
• Nadodikkattu
• Sandesam
• Chinthavishtayaya Shyamala
• Njan Prakashan

References

• "Sreenivasan", English Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sreenivasan
• Wikidata item: Q7585727