Sreenivasan is one of the most celebrated screenwriters and actors of the Malayalam film industry. He has had a prolific career spanning four decades with over 200 plus films to his credit. He made his acting debut with Manimuzhakkam in 1977. He is mainly known for handling comedy roles. Odaruthammava Aalariyam (1984) was his first movie as a writer. The decade of the 1980s and 90s saw Sreenivasan emerge as the A-list screenwriters of the Malayalam industry. And in most of those films, he essayed an important role too.

His association with ace directors like Priyadarshan and Sathyan Anthikad gave evergreen hits like Boeing Boeing, Aram + Aram Kinnaram, T. P. Balagopalan M.A., Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam, Mazha Peyyunnu Maddalam Kottunnu, Gandhinagar 2nd Street, Nadodikkattu, Sreedharante Onnam Thirumurivu, Vellanakalude Nadu, Pattanapravesham, Mukunthetta Sumitra Vilikkunnu, Varavelpu, Thalayanamanthram, Midhunam, and Kilichundan Mampazham to name a few. Through these films, he attained the status of being a writer whose scripts are ever contemporary.

The reason being, in all his films he depicted the ongoing issues back then such as unemployment, corruption, the good, bad and ugly influence and manipulation of the left-right political spectrum. All these issues were common in Kerala and hence it instantly connected with the audience. Most of his screenplays have become study material for budding screenwriters. For instance, his Sandesham is one of the best political satires ever made in our country and was included in IBN Live`s list of "100 Greatest Indian Films of All Time". He also won Kerala State Film Award for Best Screenplay.

Sreenivasan has also directed films like Vadakkunokkiyanthram and Chinthavishtayaya Shyamala. Both of them were award-winning films. For Vadakkunokkiyanthram, he won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Film and for Chinthavishtayaya Shyamala, he won the National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues. He along with actor Mukesh owns a production house named Lumiere Film Company. They have jointly produced Katha Parayumpol (2007) and Thattathin Marayathu (2012) and both the film were box-office hits. Her 2018 release includes Njan Prakashan. His 2019 releases include Mera Naam Shaji, Kuttimama and Love, Action, Drama. In 2020, he appeared in the comedy-drama film Uriyadi. His 2021 release includes Mohan Kumar Fans.