While Malayalam cinema has seen many iconic actor duos over the decades, the Mohanlal–Sreenivasan team ranks among the best, if not the best. Their chemistry was so enticing that whenever the two appeared on screen together, they never left without capturing the audience’s hearts. Not just Nadodikkattu’s Dasan-Vijayan, Chandralekha’s Appukuttan-Nooru, Mithunam’s Sethumadhavan-Preman, Ayaal Kadhayezhuthukayanu’s Sagar Kottappuram-Ramakrishnan, Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam’s Gopalakrishna Panikkar-Rajendran, Gandhinagar 2nd Street’s Sethu-Madhavan, Mukunthetta Sumitra Vilikkunnu’s Mukundan-Viswanath, and Mazha Peyyunnu Maddalam Kottunnu’s Shambu-MA Dhavan are a few examples of the many iconic on-screen duos they immortalised. In fact, there’s also no exaggeration in saying that Sreenivasan played a key role in shaping Mohanlal as an actor.
While Mohanlal debuted with director Fazil’s Manjil Virinja Pookkal (1980), Sreenivasan had entered the world of cinema a few years prior with PA Backer’s Manimuzhakkam (1976). By the time Mohanlal made his entry, Sreenivasan had become a familiar face, at least among film professionals. The actor-filmmaker himself once recalled meeting Mohanlal for the first time and shared his initial impression of him. It was Mohanlal’s childhood friend G Suresh Kumar, who later became a renowned producer, who introduced them to each other. Sreenivasan shared that he first felt Mohanlal was making a mistake by pursuing an acting career without any formal training, especially since he himself, despite having acted in many plays and even holding a film degree, was still jobless.
“One day, I went to Swami’s Lodge in Madras (now Chennai) just to see everyone. It was a lodge with small rooms and low rent. However, in the early days, prominent stars like Sathyan Master stayed there, as did actors like Jose Prakash, Nellikode Bhaskaran, Kuthiravattam Pappu, Paravoor Bharathan, CI Paul, and Captain Raju. As I was walking along the veranda, I heard someone call ‘Sreeni’ from a room. When I looked, it was Suresh Kumar,” Sreenivasan shared during an episode of Kairali TV’s Cheriya Sreeniyum Valiya Lokavum programme.
He continued, “Suresh and I knew each other earlier. While we were talking, a fat man with a limp walked into the room. I realised he was also staying with Suresh. Suresh introduced him to me: ‘He is a friend of mine. This limp is from a bike accident. He has come to act in films.’ I looked at him and thought, ‘Oh, really?’ I asked him, ‘Have you acted in plays?’ He said, ‘No.’ ‘Have you learned acting from any institute?’ He said ‘No’ to that too.”
True to his trademark wit, Sreenivasan added, “I laughed inside, thinking, ‘What a fool! Here I am, wandering around jobless, despite having acted in many plays and having learned acting scientifically at an institute. That’s when this guy, without any knowledge, walked in here to act in films! Son, leave this place before you starve here. Look at his face; it looks like an inflated balloon!’ Then he told me, ‘I watched the film Mela in which you acted. Your performance was very good.’ Do you know what I like the most in life? Others praising me! I felt very happy. I also felt a soft corner for him, too. So I asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He replied, ‘My name is Mohanlal.'”