Mohanlal needs no introduction in South India and especially in Kerala. Some people call him as the ’’Marlon Brando’’ of Indian cinema. Few others compare him to ’’Robert De Niro’’. Whatever it is, I feel he could have been as popular as great actors like Amitabh, Kamal etc if not for the language barrier. Hence I would like to introduce this great actor from Malayalam cinema to many people in North India.
Mohanlal started his film career with a film named ’Thirannotam’ which never released. His first released film was Fazil’s ’Manjil Virinja Pookkal’ in 1980 where he played a role of the villain.
The film was highly successful and then came a series of movies in which he played a lot of anti-hero and hero roles as well. He had more flops than hits during this period from 1981-1984. His early hits included films like ’’Nokketha Doorathu Kannum Nattu’’, ’’Adiyozhukkukal’’, ’’Ente Mamamatikkuttiyammakku’’ etc. 1986 was the year which really established Mohanlal as the superstar with hits like ’’T.P. Balagopalan M.A’’, ’’Gandhi Nagar 2nd Street’’, ’’Rajavinte Makan’’, ’’Namukku Parkkan Munthirithoppukal’’, ’’Thalavattam’’ and ’’Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam’’ etc.
These films stamped Mohanlal?s acting skills and he turned into a household name among movie-goers. You would not believe If I told 32 films of Mohanlal released in the year 1986. It is said that he used work hard day and night to complete all his films during this period. His dedication and hard work paid off and this was the turning point in his career.
The period from 1986-1994 can be called magical for Mohanlal as he delivered so many hits and good movies that the list is endless. This was the period Mammootty was peaking in his career as well. Mohanlal and Mammootty were involved in a healthy competition to give some golden years for Malayalam cinema from 1986-1995. I would say with complete authority that Malayalam cinema was far superior to any language films during this period in terms of Story content, Emotional content, Comedy, and Acting skills. It showed how good actors/artists are essential to make meaningful and beautiful movies.
Enough History - Let me tell you why I like or admire Mohanlal. Mohanlal is the most versatile actor who can do any role given to him, Be it tragedy, comedy, action, dialogue-driven, emotional, romantic etc and hence can be called a complete actor. When he laughs, you will laugh with and when he cries, you will cry with him. He can essay any role with complete conviction and actually lives the character he is playing.
Be it the helpless singer in ’Bharatham’, unemployed youth in ’Kireedam’, the psychatriast in ’Manichitrathazha’, he has played every character you can think of with complete authority. Mohanlal does not believe in preparing for the character. He just understands the emotion of the character and plays the role accordingly. When he is in the screen it is unlikely you will notice anybody else and has an amazing screen presence.
What can I say - He was born to be Actor. Mohanlal does his best to contribute to cinema by producing films as well. He produces under the name of Pranavam Arts and has produced some really meaningful films like ’’His Highness Abdullah’’, ’’Bharatham’’, ’’Kamaladhalam’’, ’’Midhunam’’, ’’Harikrishnans’’ and ’’Vanaprastham’’. He has also acted in a Sanskrit play, Karnabhaaram, written by poet and theatre personality Kavalam Narayana.
He is a very humle-natured person and usually avoids publicity. In his 25 year film career, never has he received a bad remark or comment from any of his film crew unlike other film personalities. You will hardly find any film magazines publishing gossip about him because he is a true professional.
Mohanlal has received national award 3 times;
1) Kireedam (Special Jury Award),
2) Bharatham &
3) Vanaprastham.
Mohanlal has acted in over 250 films until now. He has done few movies in other languages as well;
Gandheevam(Telugu), Iruvar & Popcorn (Tamil), Company (Hindi) and Love (Kannada)
If I start listing all his hits/good films in malayalam, really this space will not be enough. The films I would strongly recommend to anybody who wants to explore this great actor are:
Acting capabilities
- Kireedam, 2. Bharatham, 3. Vanaprastham, 4. Manithratazha, 5. Pavithram, 6. Spadikam, 7. Padamudra, 8. Guru, 9. Ulladakam, 10. Dasaratham etc.
Comic\Story roles
- Nadodikkattu, 2. Vandanam, 3. Mukundetta Sumithra Vilikkunnu, 4. Vellanakalude Nadu, 5. Chitram, 6. Killukam, 7. Butterflies, 8. Midhunam, 9. No:20 Madras Mail, 10. Vietnam Colony etc etc., (there are many many more...but)
Action/Dialogue-driven roles
- Narasimham, 2. AaranThampuram, 3. Spadikam, 4. Devasuram, 5. Yodha, 6. Moonam Mura, 7. Aryan, 8. Irupatham Noottandu, 9. Abhimanyu etc
My personal favourites (in order)
1) BHARATHAM : You got see this movie to see his acting skills. You will definitely cry while seeing this movie. The way he expresses emotions in this movie touches your heart. It is a wonderful movie and I believe they completed this movie in just about 50 days. Not to be missed...
2) SPATIKAM: This is one of the Mohanlal’s riveting performance where he literally blows you off with his character called ’Adu Thoma’ - a local goonda. His relationship with his father is the highlight of the movie. His style in this movie was a craze at that time.
3) DASARATHAM: This is a very light-hearted story movie. I like Mohanlal’s character a lot in this movie. He plays a rich-spoilt brat who suddenly likes children but does not want to marry. His innocence reflects in the character he plays. I sympathised so much with his character that at the end of this movie I cried.
4) VANDANAM : This is the movie which he did in the peak of his career. He played a role of a Police Officer. This movie has everything comedy/love story/action and is really good entertainer. What I like most about this movie is the ways he tries to pacify his love. I remember bursting out of laughter seeing the comedy scenes in this movie. One of my personal favourite.
5) KIREEDAM : This was one of the highpoints of his acting career. Again it is difficult for anyone to stop crying after seeing this movie. He plays role of son who is trying to become a Police Officer to satisfy the dreams of his father. How destiny rules and turns him into a criminal is the story.
6) NARASIMHAM :This is one of his latest action/dialogue-driven movies which fitted his Super-Star Image. Mohanlal came out with a high-voltage performance which sent the public crazy and cash-registers spinning. His character ’Induchudan’ and his dialogue ’Mone Dinesha’ still lingers in the mouth of many people.
Of late (after 1999), Mohanlal’s movies have been disappointing. He did some of the worst films of his career which I rather not mention. There are many reasons his films are doing well of late. Mohanlal is no longer young. Hence there is a limit to the characters and roles he can play. For instance he can no longer act as a college guy, unemployed youth etc, hence this leads to stereotyping of his roles.
However I am sure that he will hit back strongly in the future films because Mohanlal is too good an actor to be sidelined. Although he is slowly moving towards the end of his magnificient career. Everyone reaches saturation point one day and Mohanlal is slowly approaching towards it. Th