Kalidas defends father Jayaram over not attending Sreenivasan's funeral

Malayalam actor Jayaram was one of the bankable stars of the 1990s. Several of his popular films were penned by the late writer-actor Sreenivasan, who passed away in December 2025. But Jayaram came under fire for not turning up for Sreenivasan’s funeral, which witnessed Malayalam stalwarts Mammootty and Mohanlal. Now, Jayaram’s son Kalidas has defended his father, saying they know the equation they had with one another.

Why didn’t Jayaram attend Sreenivasan’s funeral

During a recent chat with Baradwaj Rangan for Galatta Plus, Jayaram spoke about Malayalam cinema's 90s era. He remarked that many of the films, written by the great Sreenivasan, are still popular to this day. The Sandesham actor added that he was not able to go to the funeral of Sreenivasan. His son and actor Kalidas Jayaram, who was also part of the interview, quickly pointed out that there is a lot of hatred on social media.

“Only they know the equation between them (Sreenivasan-Jayaram). They don't have to explain it to anyone,” Kalidas said.

“There might be so many reasons for that (not going). Even I don’t know,” added the young actor.

Jayaram reiterated he was unable go but did not spell out the reason. The most popular Jayaram-Sreenivasan film would be Sandhesam, which featured them as siblings working for two different political parties. The dialogues from the 1991 political satire film, directed by Sathyan Anthikad, continue to circulate on social media even today. Thalayana Manthram, Kankettu, and Friends are some of their other popular films, where they starred together. Jayaram last acted with Sreenivasan in the film Makal in 2022, where the writer-actor appeared as himself in a cameo.

What happened to Sreenivasan

Renowned Malayalam actor-writer-director Sreenivasan passed away on December 20, 2025. He had been unwell for the past several years and had undergone a bypass surgery in 2022. After Sreenivasan’s demise, the entire Malayalam film fraternity and even Tamil Superstar Rajinikanth had paid huge tributes to one of the best writers the industry had ever seen.

Also read: The Sreenivasan Effect: Unmatched, Unreplicated 

On the other hand, Kalidas and Jayaram would be acting together in the upcoming Malayalam film Ashakal Aayiram, which will release in theatres on February 6 , 2026.

Jayaram FAQs

Q. Which is the next film of Jayaram?

A. Actor Jayaram will be next seen in the Malayalam film Ashakal Aayiram, along with his son Kalidas in a key role.

Q. Who is elder, Kalidas or Malavika?

A. Kalidas Jayaram is the elder son of Jayaram