Sreenivasan returns as Dr Saroj Kumar

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In the 2005 hit Udayananu Tharam, Sreenivasan played a junior artiste who becomes a superstar after he cunningly uses the script, written by an assistant director, to his own advantage.

His character, Rajappan Thengummoodu, adopts the screen name Saroj Kumar and his escapades along with his confidant Pachaalam Bhasi are still fresh in the minds of Malayali viewers.

Now Saroj Kumar is all set to make a comeback in debutant director Sajin Raghavan's Padmasree Bharat Dr Saroj Kumar, which will hit the screens this weekend.

Mamta Mohandas, Vineeth Sreenivasan and Suraj Venjarammoodu are also in the cast.

"This is not a sequel to Udayananu Tharam," clarifies Sajin Raghavan.

"We have picked certain characters from that film and they have been presented in a different way. Some of the characters from Udayananu Tharam, such as Saroj Kumar (Sreenivasan), Pachaalam Bhasi (Jagathy Sreekumar), producer Babykkuttan (Mukesh) and actor Rafeeq (Salim Kumar) are there in our version as well, but the similarities end there."

Udayabhanu (Mohanlal), who directs a film with Saroj Kumar in the earlier film doesn't make an appearance in this one.

Sreenivasan says that he is quite excited to play the character once again.

In his trademark style, he says, "My character may remind audiences of the famous mannerisms of certain stars, but it has been done in a funny way. Saroj Kumar is really insecure about the new experiments that are happening in films and as happens with superstars, he is desperate to retain his reputation as a big star and tries every trick in the book to do so."

Jagathy Sreekumar says that "Pachaalam Bhasi is one of the most talked about characters I've played and it is fun to play him once again. Of course, his job profile has changed and he is a big producer now, but his basic nature hasn't changed a bit."

Mamta Mohandas plays Neelima, the wife of Saroj Kumar. Suraj Venjarammoodu plays a big fan of the superstar and works as his make-up man and manager. Vineeth Sreenivasan plays Shyam, a young hero.

Padmasree Bharat Dr Saroj Kumar is produced by Vyshakha Rajan. The film's score is by Deepak Dev.