Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, LoP VD Satheesan pay tributes to actor-filmmaker Sreenivasan
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Opposition Leader V D Satheesan on Saturday expressed deep sorrow over the passing of veteran filmmaker, actor and screenwriter Sreenivasan, describing his death as an irreparable loss to Malayalam cinema and Keralas cultural life. In a condolence message, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Sreenivasan was a rare, multifaceted talent who left an indelible mark on every sphere of filmmaking, including story, screenplay, direction and acting. He noted that very few filmmakers had succeeded like Sreenivasan in authentically portraying the life of the common man on the silver screen and in leading audiences to deeper levels of social awareness through humour and thought-provoking narratives. The Chief Minister said Sreenivasan broke several long-standing cinematic conventions and possessed the courage to articulate his ideas with wit and clarity, even when he knew these would invite sharp criticism. Even those who strongly disagreed with his views acknowledged and respected his extraordinary talent, he said. Pinarayi Vijayan added that Sreenivasan played a significant role in reshaping the aesthetic sensibility of Malayalam cinema and was particularly effective in expressing his social perspectives through satire. Many of the characters he created and portrayed, the Chief Minister said, would remain etched in the collective memory of Malayalis for generations. Recalling his personal association with the filmmaker, the Chief Minister described Sreenivasans demise as a personal loss as well. He fondly remembered sharing warm and humourous conversations with him during an interview and said Sreenivasan stood as a symbol of love and friendship. Born and brought up in Pattiam in the Kannur district, Sreenivasans life, he noted, was a lesson in perseverance, having transformed his passion for cinema into reality through sheer self-effort. EXPRESS DIALOGUES | Todays politics has gone beyond satire:Sreenivasan Opposition leader V D Satheesan, in his condolence message, described Sreenivasan as an extraordinary artist who, in a unique style, captured the lives of small people in a vast world and great people in a small world. A multifaceted genius of Malayalam cinema, Satheesan said, Sreenivasan turned everything he touched into gold, and his five-decade-long cinematic journey concluded with achievements that few could ever hope to match. Satheesan highlighted the depth of Sreenivasans writing and the breadth of his acting, recalling the filmmakers oft-repeated, humorous remark that it was Priyadarshans trick that made him a screenwriterwhich time proved to be Malayalam cinemas great fortune. Most of the characters he wrote and portrayed, Satheesan said, were deeply familiar figures, rooted in the Malayali collective psyche, and they dismantled conventional notions of heroism, making them timeless. He said classics such as Thalayana Manthram, Vadakkunokkiyantram and Chinthavishtayaya Shyamala exemplified Sreenivasans ability to blend realism, satire and social critique. Calling him a symbol of extraordinary mental strength and fighting spirit, the Opposition Leader said Sreenivasan portrayed, with rare sensitivity, the many layers of an average Malayalis lifeits love and longing, helplessness and innocence, friendship and bitterness, biting satire and uncomfortable truths. There would hardly be a Malayali who does not recall, at least once a day, something Sreenivasan wrote, said or showed on screen, Satheesan said, noting that his legacy transcended boundaries of age, caste, religion and politics. Recalling a recent interaction in Thiruvananthapuram, he said he had hoped to meet Sreenivasan again on his return to Ernakulam, but fate did not allow it. Both leaders joined the people of Kerala in bidding farewell to Sreenivasanan unparalleled talent, a humane voice of cinema, and a cherished presence who reshaped Malayalam films and society alike.
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