The youngest Sreenivasan on the block, Dhyan, is in a chatty mood on the set of Adi Kapyare Koottamani , the shooting of which is progressing in the city. It might be because he bowled over audiences as the naïve Lalu in Kunjiramayanam , in which he starred along with his big brother, actor-director Vineeth Sreenivasan. Or, perhaps, it’s because he is enjoying playing a hosteller/college student, in Adi Kapyare… , which, he says, brings back “fond memories” of his own hostel days while studying at Vellore Institute of Technology. Or maybe it’s simply because life is good at the moment, given that he’s doing what he loves to do, “working in cinema, hanging out friends, travelling, eating, driving…”
We’re guessing it has something to do with all three and the fact that Dhyan really is chilled out dude in real life, fun loving and lively, ‘a marked contrast’ to his more introvert brother, if his co-actors Aju Varghese and Neeraj Madhav, and Basil Joseph ( Kunjiramayanam ’s director) are to be believed.
“I’m in my comfort zone. I’m privileged to have been so, right from the first time I stepped in front of the camera to shoot the climax scene for Thira [directed by Vineeth],” says Dhyan. “In Kunjiramayanam too I was surrounded by friends and well-wishers. Ettan was there on set; I’ve known Basil from when he worked on Thira , assisting my brother; I’ve known Aju ettan since the Malarvady Arts Club days and even before as my brother’s college mate; Neeraj is one of my closest friends in the industry… Now, it’s the same with Adi Kapyare... I’m working with people I know and I like, people I’m emotionally attached to such as Aju ettan and Neeraj, Mukesh uncle, producers Vijay Babu and Sandra Thomas and the like.
“Being in my comfort zone gives me confidence to face the camera, knowing that my friends are there to support and give assurance. Ettan always insists that actors need to be pampered on set to make them happy so as to bring out the best in them. I think it’s because I was pampered so much that I was able perform well in both Thira and Kunjiramayanam ,” adds the 26-year-old.
Vineeth, apparently, offered Dhyan the lead role in Thira after he came across a short film that Dhyan had made and acted in as part of his course work for a degree in visual communications.
“I really had not thought about acting, though I knew my future was in cinema. How can it not be so? I grew up in an environment where we lived and breathed cinema,” he muses. When Vineeth first offered him the role, Dhyan says he was sceptical because he didn’t know if he could measure up to his co-star Shobana, a two-time National award winner. But then, in the back of my mind, I knew that ettan is rarely wrong about things like this and must have seen something in me that made him chose me for the role of the angry young man. Also, my dad is Sreenivasan. I can act!” says Dhyan, who seems to have the same dry wit as his illustrious father.
Dhyan waited a fair bit of time post Thira before accepting Kunjiramayanam and now immediately afterwards he has started his third film. “I’m in no rush to do every and any role that comes my way. Thanks to my father I’m not in it for the money. I’ve got the luxury and liberty to take my time with projects. Also, I don’t want to do a film that will harm the goodwill and reputation built up by my father and brother,” he says, adding that he was getting a lot of offers to act but eschewed them in favour of directing a film. “In fact, I was working on a script, a spoof on Malayalam cinema. The thing with a spoof is that you can do it only once and I made the decision to abandon it when I came to know of Chirakodinja Kinavukal ,” explains Dhyan.
Now we understand why Aju talks of him as a ‘sensible actor with a mind of his own’ and why Dhyan’s so unflappable, especially in the face of all those inevitable comparisons with his father, who revolutionised Malayalam cinema in the 80s and 90s with his acting and his timeless scripts, and his brother, who is doing much the same for new-age Mollywood.
“I don’t want to move out of their shadows. It’s futile. Whatever we do, my brother and I will always be known as Sreenivasan’s sons. As for my brother, I treat him with the same respect that I give to my dad and so there is no question of an ego between us. In fact, it’s to him I go to for things that I should go to my dad for, whether its advice, permissions or requests,” says Dhyan. “On that note, I don’t aspire to be like them. I’m doing my own thing!” he adds.
At the helm
Dhyan is all set to turn director. “My film will go on the floors early next year. It’s a comedy and it’s being written by Deepu Pradeep, who wrote Kunjiramayanam , and produced by Suvin K. Varkey, who produced the film. The cast is yet to be finalised but most of those who worked on Kunjiramayanam will be part of the film,” says Dhyan.
Short Takes
Dhyan’s favourites of his father’s films are those of the 80s and 90s, particularly those that Sreenivasan also scripted such as Gandhi Nagar Second Street , Varavelppu , Sanmanasullavarkku Samadhanam , Aram+Aram Kinnaram , Sandesham, Mukendetta Sumitra Vilikkunu and the likes.
He says he is like his father in temperament, especially with regards to his short temper and his outspoken nature, though he looks like his mother, Vimala. While his brother, he says, just the opposite.
He calls his mother the “nucleus” of the family that also includes his sister-in-law, Divya. “We are three different personalities with three differing opinions and it’s my mom who can handle all of us with élan.”
He studied at Mohandas College of Engineering in Anad for a year and he is making the most of the opportunity during the 20-day schedule of Adi Kapyare … to get himself reacquainted with the city and his friends.
He is also fluent in Tamil and can even write in the language.
