Following Sreenivasan's passing, audiences are talking about the writer-actor's onscreen collaborations with some of Malayalam cinema's legends, including his memorable partnerships with Mohanlal. While their relationship was once strained, the mutual respect between them never waned. The speculation about a rift between them started to surface in the early 2010s, after the release of Padmasree Bharat Dr Saroj Kumar. The film apparently threw sarcastic darts at Mohanlal's public image, especially his Lieutenant Colonel rank with the Indian Army and his illegal ivory.
In an old interview, reporter Venu Balakrishnan asked Mohanlal about the film and his alleged strained relationship with Sreenivasan, but the actor dismissed the conversation. "I have never seen that film and do not wish to talk about it," Mohanlal said, referring to Padmasree Bharat Dr Saroj Kumar. "We should talk about the good days to come. Why should we talk about events from the past?" he added.
Mohanlal reminded the interviewer that Sreenivasan's alleged comments in the film happened a log time ago. The actor also asked the reporter to highlight his "beautiful films" with Sreenivasan, such as Varavelpu, instead of speculating about their relationship. "Even Indian Prime Minister (Atal Bihari Vajpayee) talked about Varavelpu. Instead of talking about things like that, why are you discussing such negative aspects? Let us talk about the positive ones," Mohanlal said in a calm and composed manner.
Mohanlal and Sreenivasan have not worked together on a film after 2010's Oru Naal Varum, but their past collaborations, including but limited to the CID trilogy, are legendary. In Mohanlal's tribute to the late actor-screenwriter, referring to their characters from the famous film trilogy, he wrote, "On screen and in life, we travelled forever — laughing, having fun, quarrelling, and reconciling — just like Dasan and Vijayan."
