Sreenivasan is known to call a spade a spade in real life. The actor-scenarist-director has a knack of presenting hard-hitting tales in a refreshing way. Some of his scripts rank among the most popular in the history of Malayalam cinema. His recent release, Njan Prakashan, directed by Sathyan Anthikkad, with whom he has made several memorable movies, has turned out to be the flavour of the season.
In his characteristic style and wit, Sreenivasan opens up on his latest release and more in an interview. Excerpts:
Njan Prakashan is having an excellent run in theatres. What worked in its favour?
In Njan Prakashan, we set aside conventional definitions of a hero . Fahadh Faasil does not play a protagonist who wins all the time and you can see the character flee during fights. Such a hero is a rarity and the viewers could easily identify with him.
Did you try to bring back the formula of an unemployed youth, which was a trend in some of your earlier movies?
No. If it has evoked such a feeling, that was not my intention. The viewers have to comment on it. We had no plans to repeat the things we did in the past.
The film brought back the hit pair of Sreenivasan-Sathyan Anthikkad after 16 years. Did you feel nostalgic?
Though we haven’t done movies together for quite a while, we were always in touch, discussing each other’s projects. Even we didn’t realise it has been so long since we teamed up. We kept sharing our ideas and thoughts all along. He (Sathyan) was with me even when I turned director.
Any set notions about the storyline when you started writing the film?
We developed three story ideas and Njan Prakashan was the third. We were looking for a humorous plot and this one seemed fine.
I believe that the purpose of cinema is to entertain. The so-called geniuses may have given new meanings to it, but for those who developed cinema, the aim was to entertain.
The director said Fahadh reminds him of Mohanlal. Did you feel that?
That is his opinion (smiles). I don’t feel that Fahadh’s way of acting can be compared to that of any other actor’s. We usually make comparisons with people who are familiar to us and maybe that is why he said that.
Was it challenging to mould comedy to suit the current times?
When an attempt like this is made, we have to keep ourselves updated, and more importantly, we should avoid repetition. Freshness is the key factor in cinema. Everybody loves good humour and in movies, we are in search of things that make viewers laugh. In Njan Prakashan , we have mainly used satire.
Of late, veteran filmmakers are finding it difficult to match young talents in Malayalam.
You need to create situations in movies that are new and relevant. For that, you have to look around and observe what is happening. For example, I am involved in farming and that is how the Bengali labourers and their ‘harvest song’ came about in Njan Prakashan.
How true are certain comments in Njan Prakashan , especially the one about communist rule in West Bengal?
I have read some articles where it was mentioned that things have gone from bad to worse for Bengalis. However, that dialogue was not really meant to be politically correct and was just a funny one-liner.
As Gopalji, you are back on screen doing comedy after a break.
I love doing humorous roles and I write my characters that way. But I haven’t received many offers from others to do comedy.
There have been debates over Sandesham , where it was called apolitical
I don’t know big theories. I will explain it in my own way. We live in a highly politicised society. Even then, there were so many things that I never understood about politics. All that I didn’t understand became Sandesham .
Do you have plans for another political satire, considering how popular Sandesham is even now?
There were plans for a sequel to Sandesham but I was not sure about living up to the expectations that such a project would give rise to. In fact, we didn’t touch corruption while doing Sandesham and that has become rampant now. If I am making a political satire now, I would perhaps use that as a theme.
You have directed only two films, Vadakkunokkiyanthram and Chinthavishtayaya Shyamala . Any plans for more?
I had decided that I would direct again only if I get a novel idea that suits me.
After Vineeth, your younger son, Dhyan, is also turning director with Love Action Drama . Do you plan to write a script for them?
Actually, they have never asked me for a script. Maybe, they feel I am outdated (laughs).
What makes your scripts popular even now?
I don’t know the secret. Perhaps, we had approached humour in a different way from what was prevalent until then. Our pattern was original and we created it from our own imagination. That flavour has remained by and large the same and that should be the reason why people are enjoying it after so many years.
Your film Padmasree Bharat Dr. Saroj Kumar didn’t go down well with some of your friends. Do you regret doing it?
We can’t predict the result of any film. It is baseless to say I have done things to mock any particular individual. That has never been my intention.
