Sreenivasan.
The 69-year-old, who passed away on Saturday morning after a long fight against various ailments, was the Charlie Chaplin of Malayalam films, getting people to reflect on the state of their society with a hearty laugh at themselves.
His ordinary men spoke truth to power and his films always had their Sandesam. And with lines like 'Polandine Kurichu Nee Oru Aksharam Mindaruthu...' (Don't you utter a word about Poland...) sprinkled within them, there is no doubting the fact that they will forever remain unforgettable.
Among Malayalam's greatest satirists, Sreenivasan made his entry into the film world to the tolling of bells. PA Backer's Manimuzhakam, which launched him in 1976, bagged the National Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam that year and also a Kerala State Film Award. The accolades were in a way a harbinger of what was to come.
The hero of that film Harikeshan Thampi remembered how Sreenivasan arrived on the sets to essay the role of an orphan named Vayaran Michael.
"Even before the film, I knew Sreenivasan, who was staying in Chennai during those days. That's why I was happy to hear that we were acting together," he remembered.
Sreenivasan got the role because one of his teachers had recommended him to Backer.
"Prabhakaran, the principal of the institute where Sreenivasan studied, was also acting in Manimuzhakam. It was he who told Backer sir about Sreenivasan's talents. At Prabhakaran's suggestion, Sreenivasan came to meet Backer sir and got the opportunity. Also, the film's associate director Adam Ayub was Sreeni's classmate. Although it was a small role, he acted well," said Harikeshan Thampi.
Their days together during the shooting were spent at orphanages.
"Sreenivasan and I were together for about a week on the location of Manimuzhakam. The shooting took place in orphanages in Ernakulam and Thrissur. We used to sit with the orphans and eat food from their plates. Between us, it was a relationship of equals," he went on to recall.
Asked about the remuneration that was paid to Sreenivasan, Thampi said, "This was an art film. Or an award film as we used to call it. It was based on Sarah Thomas' novel Murippaadukal and made on a shoe-string budget. The payments were negligible. But then it did win the big awards."
Three years later, Backer himself would hand Sreenivasan his first lead role in Sanghagaanam (Chorus Song).
Five years later, in 1984, would come a bigger transition.
Odaruthammava Aalariyam saw a young Priyadarshan, fresh from the success of Poochakkoru Mookkuthi, insisting that Sreenivasan must write the screenplay if he wanted to act in the movie. In the next one year, many comedy hits would follow including Aram + Aram = Kinnaram, Boeing Boeing and Punnaram Cholli Cholli with Priyadarshan himself.
Mutharamkunnu P.O. went on to see Sreenivasan write the screenplay for debutant director Sibi Malayalil, who would make waves himself.
Then in 1986-87 came the most consequential writer-director partnership of Sreenivasan's career, uniting him with Sathyan Anthikkad. After Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam, TP Balagopalan MA, Sreedharante Onnam Thirumurivu and Nadodikaattu. Malayalam cinema would never be the same again.
Harikesan Thampi believes he knows the period that was significant in shaping Sreenivasan the writer.
"After studying at the Film Institute, he lived in a single room in Chennai's Kodambakkam. During that time, Sreeni underwent a lot of sufferings. That trial by fire forged him and his observation and writing skills," he said.
"It was Sreeni's innate talent that helped him grow. I remember bursting out laughing like all other Malayalis after watching many of Sreeni's films," he went on to add.
Thampi also had something to remind everyone.
"Sreenivasan's films should be taken in the sportsman spirit. Sometimes in films, you have to talk about individuals and politics. Don't mimicry artists imitate some stars? Fans of stars or followers must not take offence when they see any of his films be it Udayananu Tharam or Padmasree Bharat Dr. Saroj Kumar," he stressed.
A renowned dubbing artiste and actor who appeared in around 50 films himself, Harikesan Thampi acted in a few films like Parassala Pachan Payyannur Paramu with Sreenivasan later.
"I had also dubbed for Sandesam and Nadodikaattu," he recalled.
"We last met at the AMMA organisation meeting. On another occasion, my friend gave me Sreenivasan's number. From then on, I would also call him off an on," he said.
With Sreenivasan's passing, Harikesan Thampi is the only survivor from the 1976 film.
"Sreeni came to the film to play an orphan. But now he has left us all orphaned," the 84-year-old said.
Indeed, Malayalam cinema has lost a colossus. But the Manimuzhakkam that Sreenivasan created with his genius during his more than 48-year-long career will continue to reverberate.