Tamil star Parthiban cancels Dubai trip to head to Kochi for Malayalam actor Sreenivasan's funeral

  National Award winning Tamil filmmaker Parthiban has now disclosed how he felt a strong urge to pay his last respects in person to ace Malayalam filmmaker Sreenivasan so much so that he chose to cancel his trip to Dubai and headed to Kochi. 

For the unaware, actor, writer and director Sreenivasan passed away on Saturday at the Trippunithura Taluk Hospital, where he had been undergoing treatment for age-related illness. He was 69. 

Taking to his X timeline to explain what had made him change all his plans and head to Kochi to pay homage to the great filmmaker, Parthiban wrote, "If you listen to how I reached Kochi, it was intense beyond words. There were no flights available from Chennai to Kochi. At 7:55pm, I took out my Benz and drove myself. I reached the airport at 8:40pm. On the way, I narrowly escaped accidents at four different points. I was driving alone." 

He then went on to explain the difficult situation he faced at the airport. "The flight was scheduled for 8:50pm. Even after entering the airport, there were no seats available. Half seriously and half jokingly, I told the senior manager at Indigo that even a pilot's seat would be perfectly fine if that was the only way to get me on the flight. Finally, at 9:25pm, one of the staff stepped down, and that seat was given to me. I remain grateful to the senior manager for making this arrangement possible." 

Stating that he reached Kochi by 11pm, the top actor and director said he had no idea where he would stay. 

"I eventually found a modest three-star hotel near Srinivasan sir's home. I was actually supposed to be in Dubai today. I cancelled my flight. I cancelled my hotel. And yet, the strangest thing is this – within my own mind, I could have offered my condolences from anywhere. Still, something pulled me here. I kept asking myself: why did I run all the way from there to here? Something inside me was hitting very hard," the actor explained. 

"On one side, legends like Mohanlal, Mammootty, and Dileep were present. I have seen wealth in my life. But what stood before me was not money – rather, a pure soul and a great creator, someone deserving of immense respect. I carried jasmine flowers with me to pay my respects to a dear friend of mine. I knew I might not be recognised, and that was never the point.

What mattered to me was that this act would be registered with the universe. When something is done with complete sincerity, it reaches where it is meant to reach – to that friendship – even if it is only the universe that bears witness," he explained. 

The actor though was in for a surprise. "I genuinely thought nobody had recognised my presence, and I was completely at peace with that. However, Director Rajesh, with whom I had worked in the film 'Escape From Uganda', noticed that I was there and later sent me a few messages. That moment quietly stayed with me," he wrote. 

Parthiban also shared what director Rajesh sent in his message. The message read, "Seeing you in that crowd today made me genuinely happy. Pure friendship. Pure respect. Coming all the way from Chennai just to be there for Sreeniyettan says everything about you. A good human, a true friend. Touched my heart, big brother. Big hug, huge respect." 

He went on to say,"Today you taught me a powerful life theory, more than a lesson, a philosophy. I truly learned something that will stay with me. Thank you, sir. Much love and deep respect. Among all the heroes I met there, you are the biggest hero.They are all Gen Z kids sir. Innekku they are gonna watch your films. Real hero na enna nu I want to show them. And I am doing that. They are also emotional when I said a person came like this and went without making a noise."

Indo-Asian News Service