Jagathy Sreekumar was born on 5 January 1951 at Jagathy, Thiruvananthapuram. He is the son of Malayalam dramatist and writer Jagathy N. K. Achary. Even from childhood, Jagathi Sreekumar had the dream of becoming an actor. Jagathy Sreekumar Achary was a Class V student at Model School in Thiruvananthapuram when he first got the opportunity to act in a play. By the time he joined Mar Ivanios College, Thiruvananthapuram, he had become an experienced theatre person.

His first film was Chattambi Kalyani. His role in the film earned him recognition. With 1,100-odd Malayalam films to his credit, he is reckoned as one of the most popular actors in the Malayalam film industry. He considers acting a serious profession. He has never acted in any language other than Malayalam except one and it is Aadum Koothu, a Tamil film directed by the Malayalam film director T. V. Chandran.