Sreenivasan, a Thalassery legend, becomes part of history

The cliched references to Thalassery, a coastal town in Kerala’s Malabar, often centres around the three Cs — cricket, cakes and circus. There is historical validity to these attributions and in the 1980s and 1990s, a touch of notoriety was added too due to a spate of political murders.

Often a Thalassery native, conscious of the blood and gore, would mention his place as Kannur or Kozhikode before getting more granular and mentioning a village close to Thalassery. The stigma was real before Sreenivasan became a crutch to lean on. “Oh from Thalassery, you know our Sreenivasan’s place,” would be the proud refrain.

Also read | Renowned Malayalam actor-filmmaker Sreenivasan, passes away | LIVE Updates

When the creative genius passed away on Saturday (December 20, 2025), leaving a fine body of celluloid work, the geographical axis between Thalassery and Koothuparambu lost its favourite son. Sreenivasan, 69, had a flair for the theatrical from a young age. As a lad, while keeping watch for jackals and other animals in fields growing Mangalore cucumber and local vegetables, he would perform skits and regale his friends all night.

Politically aware and inclined towards the arts, Sreenivasan rooted his stories in villages and marinated them in earthy humour. Self-deprecatory and often throwing up a contrarian stance, he was the quintessential Thalasserykaran, aware of the world and its foibles. He mined his memories, found threads from the lives of his friends and acquaintances, and all this shaped his craft as an actor, writer and director.

The collaborations he did with directors like Sathyan Anthikkad, Priyadarshan and Kamal remain classy to this day. He also forged a kinship with Mammootty and Mohan Lal, and equally held a mirror to many in the industry and would quietly chuckle. The screenplays he did like the one for the evergreen political satire Sandesham will stand the test of time. To take a dig at both the Left and centrist parties in Kerala, through a family drama, needed a spine and Sreenivasan always had that.

Always secular, Sreenivasan has often said how he as a Hindu got married thanks to the money lent by a Christian Innocent and a Muslim Mammootty. “Life is just this,” he would say. Ailing for a while and leaving for the netherworld from Kochi, his legacy will now linger through his sons Vineeth and Dhyan. Thalassery has lost a jewel, and the Malayalam film industry and fans at large will miss Sreenivasan’s wit and wisdom.