Udayananu Tharam

Sreenivasan received critical acclaim for his performance as Saroj Kumar and his refreshing script.

Writing for The Hindu, Sreedhar Pillai wrote, "Udayananu Tharam, directed by debutant Rosshan Andrrews, asserts that the creator is a path-breaking director. After many years of prattle about `new' cinema within the commercial format, Udayananu Tharam gives some substance to the contention that Malayalam cinema has come of age. The most refreshing thing is that it is a genre film, a black comedy, rather than omnibus masala concoctions serving all the nine rasas.[6] Paresh C. Palicha of Now Running gave the film 3 stars out of 5 and wrote, ""Sreenivasan has peppered the story with real life incidents. He does not spare the two reigning superstars of Malayalam cinema, Mammootty and Mohanlal, even though the latter is the film's hero." He also praised Sreenivasan's performance writing, "Mohanlal gives a restrained and dependable performance as Udayan. But it is Sreenivasan who steals the thunder with his over-the-top act as the megalomaniac superstar."[8]Sify, in their review gave the film a verdict of "Excellent" and praised the film for its refreshing script, writing, "Writer Sreenivasan and director Rosshan traces Udayan’s dreams and progresses in a realistic manner. The wry passages and the swipes at the superstars are gingerly executed."[9]

The reviewer for Webindia called the film "a definite entertainer" and praised the film's script, writing, "Sreenivasan writes about real life incidents that happen in the film industry and presents them in a humorous manner. He makes a dig at everyone, not even leaving the superstars. The director has handled the script well. But somewhere something is amiss in the narrative especially in the first half." They also praise Sreenivasan's performance writing, "It is Sreenivasan who steals the show as the dimwit obnoxious superstar Saroj Kumar."[10] Varnachithram, praising Mohanlal's performance wrote, "He performs his role with great subtlety and makes us feel the pain of the character." They conclude writing, "Even with all the drawbacks we mentioned, it was a good movie to watch with the minimum standard we expect from Malayalam movies. But it is not a classic along the lines of Nadodikaatu (1987) or Sanmasullavarku Samadhanam (1986) which we like to watch over and over again. Finally, the movie should have been called Sreeniyanu Tharam (Sreeni is the star) for he was the real star of this movie.[11]

It was made on a budget of ₹2.35 crore, including prints and publicity.[1] The film was a major commercial success and a blockbuster.[12] It took the biggest ever opening for a Malayalam film until then, surpassing Narasimham (2000).[13] It grossed ₹3.12 crore (US$390,000) in two weeks from 41 screens in Kerala, with a distributor share of ₹1.38 crore (US$170,000).[6] The film grossed ₹19,80,000 in 17 days at Ernakulam Shenoys theatre, which was a record.[6] The film then grossed Rs 16.69 Crore from 41 screens in 35 days and a distributor’s share of ₹2.76 Crore.[1] The film managed to recover its budget from the releasing stations.[1] It ran for 100 days in several cities such as Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode and Thrissur.[1] The film also performed well in cities outside Kerala, like Bengaluru, Chennai and Mumbai.[1] It was the first hit of the year.[12]