Kochi: Actor and filmmaker Sreenivasan was cremated with full state honours at his residence in Kandanad, Udayamperoor, on Sunday morning. Sreenivasan, who had been unwell for the past few years, died on Saturday morning while being taken for routine dialysis. His body was brought to his house in Kandanad around 4.45 pm, after being kept at the Town Hall for public homage.

As a symbolic gesture of respect to the versatile writer, Sathyan Anthikad placed a pen and paper on Sreenivasan’s body shortly before his elder son Vineeth lit the funeral pyre, in the presence of his younger son Dhyan and wife Vimala.

People from all walks of life gathered to mourn one of Malayalam cinema’s most influential voices. CPM state secretary M V Govindan, Opposition Leader V D Satheesan, Tamil superstar Suriya and actor Renji Panicker paid their final homage to the actor on Sunday morning.

A native of Paadyam in Kannur district, Sreenivasan entered the Malayalam film industry with PA Backer’s Manimuzhakkam. He began his screenwriting career in 1984 with Priyadarshan’s Odaruthammava Aalariyam. Over a film career spanning 48 years, he wrote screenplays for 54 films and directed two. Of these, 32 were collaborations with Sathyan Anthikad and Priyadarshan.

At a time when Malayalam cinema was dominated by notions of conventionally handsome and larger-than-life heroes, Sreenivasan redefined the protagonist, turning perceived limitations into creative possibilities through characters rooted in realism and social satire.