Sreenivasan was born in the village of Patyam, to the east of Thalassery in Kannur, North Malabar region of Kerala State, India on 6 April 1956. He completed his formal education in Government High School, Kathiroor and Pazhassi Raja N.S.S. College Mattannur. He enrolled for a diploma in film acting from the Adayar Film Institute, Chennai, where the yet-to-be superstar Rajinikanth was his senior by a year.
Sreenivasan entered the film industry in the 1977 P. A. Backer movie ‘Manimuzhakam’ after finishing a course in acting from the Film Chamber Institute. At the film institute he was coached by the then vice principal A. Prabhakaran, who later gave him a role in his movie ‘Mela’. A few movie roles later, he wrote his first film, ‘Oodarathuammava Aalariyam’, in 1984, which was directed by Priyadarshan, besides playing one of the lead roles. The director and screenwriter team of Sathyan Anthikkad and Sreenivasan, one of the most acclaimed in Malayalam cinema, made their first film… read more
Sreenivasan was born in the village of Patyam, to the east of Thalassery in Kannur, North Malabar region of Kerala State, India on 6 April 1956. He completed his formal education in Government High School, Kathiroor and Pazhassi Raja N.S.S. College Mattannur. He enrolled for a diploma in film acting from the Adayar Film Institute, Chennai, where the yet-to-be superstar Rajinikanth was his senior by a year.
Sreenivasan entered the film industry in the 1977 P. A. Backer movie ‘Manimuzhakam’ after finishing a course in acting from the Film Chamber Institute. At the film institute he was coached by the then vice principal A. Prabhakaran, who later gave him a role in his movie ‘Mela’. A few movie roles later, he wrote his first film, ‘Oodarathuammava Aalariyam’, in 1984, which was directed by Priyadarshan, besides playing one of the lead roles. The director and screenwriter team of Sathyan Anthikkad and Sreenivasan, one of the most acclaimed in Malayalam cinema, made their first film together, ‘T.P.Balagopalan M.A’ in 1986. After the huge success of their first collaboration the duo made a number of movies together in the 80’s, notably ‘Welcome’, ‘Gandhinagar 2nd Street’ (1986), ‘Peace Comes to the Kindhearted’ (1986), ‘Country Winds’ (1987) and ‘Welcome’ (1989). The actor and screenwriter, who had by then made his reputation with his unique style of deadpan comedy, made his debut as director with ‘Compass’ in 1989, which won the Kerala State Award for the best film. The only other film he would direct was ‘Pensive Shyamala’ in 1998, which won the Indian National Film Award for the Best Film tackling social issues.
Many of Sreenivasan’s films as writer and director were lighthearted depictions of Keralan society and handled themes like unemployment, political rivlary and middle-class morality. But some of his films also have their hard hitting moments as in ‘Land of White Elephants’ (1988), ’Let’s Build a Nest Far, Far Away’ (1986) and ‘The Message’ (1991). Excellent characterization, witty (often deadpan) dialogue and self-deprecating humour are trademarks of Sreenivasan movies. He is also known for his style of self-deprecating humour, where he pokes fun at his own unglamourous appearance, especially his being dark-skinned and short. From a technical point of view, his films are rather austere in terms of camerawork and editing, with much being left to the actors to deliver. But he did seem to have some grasp over the basic grammar of the medium. He also formed a popular team with the Malayalam superstar Mohanlal, with whom he acted in umpteen films. Unlike much of mainstream Indian cinema, songs are used very minimally in his films, and yet they met with commercial success within the state. He also made a brief stint on television with a programme called ‘Little Sreeni (short for Sreenivasan) in a Big World’. —Wikipedia
