On why Vineeth Sreenivasan is Malayalam cinema’s really ‘democratic’ trend-setter and talent spotter
As this is penned, a little Malayalam film, little because it has none of the stars, is making big waves. The film, Helen, directed by an astonishing guy, Mathukutty Xavier, whose Instagram description, as “some guy who lives in stories,” bares his soul, has one big name associated with it though as its producer.
Big not in terms of star-cult value but because it is a name that young Malayalam filmgoers now seem to trust more than the megastars.
Look through the BookMyShow user reviews, wade past those first hundred-odd obviously PR promoted ones, and you find that common factor — the name, much like Helen’s famed ships, that has already launched tens of stars and allures hundreds of thousands to the movie halls.
The name, Vineeth Sreenivasan, it is.
A name that comes with an astounding pedigree — of writer-actor-director Sreenivasan, who is undisputedly the man who helped place Mohanlal on the pedestal of fandom with his ‘new generation’ scripts sans any pretension.
He is the man who could lock horns with none other than the doyen Adoor Gopalakrishnan with his brand of popular cinema for state awards (with Vadakkunokkiyanthram). He is also the man who was the first to cry foul that the king is naked and panned mega actors for making a mockery of cinema by playing to the gallery of their locust fans.
Little does it surprise then that Vineeth today can wear the crown of not just star maker but also true talent spotter.
The young man, an engineering graduate, who made his entry into cinema as a singer, thanks possibly to his father’s connections and the goodwill of Sreeni’s friends, did not disappoint. His first song as playback singer– Kasavinte Thattamittu — was a runaway hit in the non-social era.
He then tried his hand in acting, with his father and otherwise, and it was rather obvious that when it comes to performing he had miles to go.
Talent, however, has no full stops and he ventured into direction, not with stars which he could pretty well have bankrolled, but instead investing in a bunch of newcomers, putting them through grueling rehearsals and making one killer winner that had so well gauged the pulse of youth.
That the film Malarvadi Arts Club was funded by actor Dileep couldn’t have been a coincidence either. Everyone needs a stepping stone and who better than Dileep who knew the industry’s diktat and had the verve to outsmart it.
Malarvadi Arts Club thrust into limelight today’s big young stars — from Nivin Pauly to Aju Varghese to composer Shaan Rahman and more. These young men brought the same level of bonding that once marked the combo of Priyadarshan-Mohanalal-MG Sreekumar.
The freshness that Vineeth brought further reverberated in his second outing as director, Thattathin Marayathu, which continues to be remembered for some of its lines, and also defined Vineeth as a director who likes to connect to his Thalasseri roots.
For Thira, his third, Vineeth didn’t shy away from taking a bold theme — that of human trafficking- and also cast his brother Dhyaan, whose is now an actor and director on his own ground, whose work with Nivin Pauly, Love Action Drama, worked its way through the box office hit circuit.
Since then, Vineeth has dabbled in all — singing, writing, acting and producing films.
But in doing so he did what few others dared to do.
He scouted, invested in and groomed talents. He and his pals skirted away from all controversy (note that none of his team rushed to condemn Dileep in his down-days when doing that would have been fashionably right). Their better sense to stay out of controversy couldn’t have been for favours received. It just made sense not to comment on something that is still under the purview of the courts.
Meanwhile, the stories of Vineeth et al were made more endearing with their down to earth goodness — their friendship, underpinned in the work culture that was highlighted in the behind the scenes of films such as Jacobinte Swargarajyam and Aanandam, produced by Vineeth under his banner, ‘Habit of Life.’
Aanandam was a launch pad for a number of newcomers including its director, Ganesh Raj, who said he had “dared to post a message to Vineeth, expression his ‘slavish’ willingness to work for him.”
Vineeth promptly asked him to assist on his films. “But never in my wildest imagination did I expect him to produce Aanandam,” Ganesh said, who went to assist Vineeth on Jacobinte Swargarajyam, shot in Dubai before Vineeth put his money into Aanandam.
Learning from the ‘Vineeth School,’ Ganesh said, “he is meticulously organized and specific about every shot; he knows exactly what he wants and goes by a clear view in his mind.”
For Jacobinte Swargarajyam, Vineeth went one step further: He drew inspiration from the real-life tale of his friend Gregory.
Describing the making of the film as a new learning in life for him, Vineeth had observed: “In our rush, we forget a lot of things. We start taking things for granted. I learnt that we must give importance to the things that really matter.”
Vineeth et al continue to stand out for the feel-good films that inspire others in a rather old school moral science lesson manner. Their films were also squeaky clean with none of the vulgarity or double innuendo.
This association with ‘feel-goodness’ in an era ‘being bold for the sake of it’ seems to be the norm doesn’t matter to Vineeth. On comments that with his brand of feel-good family movies, he is being ‘Sathyan Anthikadu,’ Vineeth told me that he sees it as a compliment. “There are very few filmmakers who have told stories about Malayalis with such sincerity as Sathyan uncle. If anyone feels I am following his school of filmmaking, I am happy about it. I do not see it as criticism.”
Soon under Vineeth’s patronage bloomed a crew of young talented directors- from Basil Joseph of Kunjiramayanam and Godha to now Malayalam’s first local superhero, Minnal Murali, to many one-hit wonders who have proved their mettle and offer no reason to disappoint moviegoers in their next outings.
As producer of Helen, Vineeth could sometimes be regarded as building his clique — as detractors point out — but what the heck, apart from Aashique Abu, Rajeev Ravi and Anwar Rashid (and Vijay Babu, who can spot the money like no other), how many others have opened so many doors for so many new talents without discrimination?
It could be argued that Vineeth continues the tradition of talent spotting that director Faasil too can be credited with in the past.
But the profusion of talent that Vineeth brings to the fore makes him a worthy son of a worthy father.
Indeed, Vineeth walks the whole nine-yard talk of his father that in cinema talent is the true star and bringing together more new faces and crew only makes you personally bigger not insecure as many in the industry tend to believe.
So here is to Vineeth, a way to go from a distant onlooker.
Thank you for your cinema and your brand of filmmaking.
May your school and tribe thrive like Abou Ben Adhem.
