About Mohanlal

Padma shri Bharat Mohanlal Viswanathan Nair - Mohanlal was born on May 21, 1960 .Commonly known as Mohanlal or Lalettan , he is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam film world . A four-time National Award winner, Lal is famous for his versatility and natural acting style . His peerless charisma and charm makes every malayaless around the world feel proud and make him their personal delight . The Government of India honored him with coveted civilian award Padma Shri in 2001 .

Mohanlal was born in Elanthur which is in Pathanamthitta district in Kerala , to Mr. Vishwanathan Nair, a government employee , and Mrs.Santhakumari .The family shifted to Thiruvananthapuram as his father was employed in the Kerala Secretariat in the legal department . He grew up in Mudavanmugal in Thiruvananthapuram . He did his under primary schooling in Govt UPS Mudavanmugal and later enrolled into the Govt Model Higher Secondary School , Thiruvananthapuram . An average student at school, he started his association with the world of acting very early, when he used to participate in school-plays . In the sixth grade , young Mohanlal was chosen the best actor in school . The first role was on a drama named Computer Boy and he played the role of an 80 year old man . The result came as a surprise as the best actor award was usually won by actors from Tenth grades only.

After schooling , he joined Mahatma Gandhi College , Thiruvananthapuram for his bachelor’s degree . It was during this period that Lal started taking interest in movies with a serious mind . He had a good circle of friends attached from his school days itself . Producer Suresh Kumar , Director Ashok Kumar , Singer M. G. Sreekumar, Cameraman S. Kumar and Director Priyadarshan were some famous names . Quite strange , Lal and Priyan were not good friends during their early college days . Both recall their fighting over the same girls and also playing for opposite teams in cricket field . Lal was the opening bowler of his team and Priyan the opposition opening batsman . But both become sweet pals and the passion for movies worked a lot for their bonding.

During college days Mohanlal and his friends were mostly seen in Indian Coffee House , Statue Junction . They spend hours after hours dreaming and discussing matters related to movies . The interest led him and his friends to establish a company named ' Bharath Cine Group ' . They planned a movie after getting some financiers and help from a producer named Pachaloor Sasi . Finally On September 8, 1978 at the Attukal temple premises the pooja and shooting of 'Thiranottam' started . The team included Suresh Kumar, Unni, Priyadarshan, S Kumar, Ashok Kumar, producer Sasi among others . Mohanlal played the role of a mentally challenged servant in the film . The main location for shooting was in and around Mohanlal's house at Mudavanmugal .The film struck many times with financial problems and even after tiding over those numerous difficulties , the film ran into rough weather with the Censor Board . It was given not a clean certificate , but film released with the help of a financier n had a run of one day only for making it eligible to get Subsidy from Government . The film was released in Kollam Krishna theatre and ran for a day long only .

But this setback did little to sway the hold of deep love for acting . He went with friends to Chennai, one of the melting pots for South Indian Film Industry . The first time was for lab works for Thiranottam . They occupied Room No 9 of the famous Swami’s lodge . The team planned to do a Tamil film named ‘Karai Thodathe Alaikal ‘with the then Superstar of Tamil Vijayan . Unfortunately that film too didn’t reach any shore following the movie title . This is when they came across an ad in a leading newspaper daily looking for a youngster for a role in a film produced by Navodaya .Still photographer Nambyathiri took some stills and the friends came back with the negative print to Thiruvananthapuram . Suresh Kumar went to Sivan’s Sivaram studio and developed the negatives. Unhappy with the way he looked in photograph, Lal declined from applying . But Suresh, aware of his natural talent , secretly sent his photograph anyway. Mohanlal received a telegram the next day to attend the interview at Alappuzha and very soon was displaying his skills in front of an interview panel comprising of the likes of Fazil, Sibi Malayil and Jijo . The panel saw a young talent with loads of energy and enthusiasm. He was selected to do the role of villain Narendran in Fazil's ' Manjil Virinja Pookal ' The rest is history .

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Early Years and growth to Superstardom

The journey started and it was the emergence of an Emperor and the start of a sweet trip to the mind and soul of all people around him . His first film Manjil Virinja Pookal became a huge hit and suddenly all watched a man with a different mannerism and style . Then came Sanchari, Thenum Vayambum, Thakilu Kottamburam, Dhanya, Ahimsa, Druvasangamam etc . He got villain characters and small roles at the beginning of his career . He did almost all roles that came his way which acted as a learning school in his later career . It also helped him to nurture his acting potential to the fullest . He had no shortage of opportunities and soon he got movies with more good and main characters . His notable movies during the period include Padayottam, Ente Mohangal Poovaninju, Kuyiline Thedi, Engine Nee Marakkum, Kattathe Kilikkoodu, Ente Mamattikkuttiammakku etc .

From around 1984 onwards he started doing more supporting characters and also lots comic roles . Poochakkoru Mookkuthi, Aalkkoottathil Thaniye, Sreekrishna Parunthu, Uyarangalil are some major movies during the year. He did 27 movies during 1983 and 1984. During 1985 came Nokketha Doorathu Kannum Nattu, Aram + Aram Kinnaram, Boeing Boeing which were all received well by audiences all over .

The year 1986 got special significance in the career of Mohanlal . For one , he did the maximum number of films in a calendar year, 35 and also he was crowned and blessed with the Superstar hallmark after the splendid success of Rajavinte Makan . The notable movies came just before Rajavinte Makan includes Mazha Peyyunnu Maddalam Kottunnu , Panchagni , Yuvajanolsavam, Sanmanassullavarku Samadhanam , T.P. Balagopalan M.A , Gandhinagar Second Street etc . The Superstardom also marks the beginning of the Golden Era in Malayalam film .

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Golden Era and Movies of a Lifetime

The Superstardom was followed by a series of elegant movies like Namukku Parkkan Munthirithoppukal, Sukhamo Devi and Thalavattam in the same year . That marked the arrival of an actor who took viewers to a world of fascination and enticement . He bagged the State award for best actor on 1986 for the movie T. P Balagopalan .M.A . He won his first Film fare Award for the film Sanmasullavarkku Samadhaanam in the same year itself . The Golden era was blessed with genius film makers like Padmarajan , Bharatan , Aravindhan , Sathyan Anthikad , Priyadarshan etc who took Malayalam movies to glory . Mohanlal was ever present and associated with them with his top notch performances . The era saw comprehensible narration and unconventional sparkling ideas . Adding to the flavour came Mohanlal's energetic talent. He was blessed with characters which got bountiful scope to emote .

Amrutham Gamaya , Sarvakalasala, Irupatham Noottandu, Thoovanathumbikal , Nadodikkattu etc followed next year . The roles were different from one another and Lal just lived in those movies. During this period formed some high profile association, the prominent include Mohanlal - Sathyan Anthikad - Sreenivasan and Mohanlal - Padmarajan along with his close friend Priyadarshan . Lal - Sathyan movies with the then socio - economic satires as background was welcomed with hands open . Varavelpu, Pattanapravesham etc were some treasured nostalgic movies of all malayalees .

Mohanlal - Padmarajan movies broke all conventional paths set by Indian culture. The duo gave many fascinated movies, Thoovanathumbikal the best in the lot . The film set with rain as background and Lal's Thrissur dialect along with the theme and song made the movie an all-time fascination .

Padamudra, Vellanakalude Naadu and one of the all-time blockbusters Chithram enhanced and empowered his stardom. Priyadarshan’s musical comedies add flavour to his wide variety of roles. Chitram and Vandanam made him a man next door .

The teaming up with Sibi Malayil and Lohithadas gave a string of masterpieces like Kireedam, Dasharadham etc. Lal first National Best Actor special jury Award for the film Kireedam released in 1989. He turned producer with film His Highness Abdullah in 1990 with the same combination and won the National award for the best actor award for the film Bharatham in 1991.

Special mention should be made on Venu Nagavalli with whom he did some dazzling films like Sukhamo Devi, Sarvakalasala, Aey Auto, Lal Salam etc which are considered to be some of the best characters in Malayalam movie world.

He began doing lots more entertainers during 90's like Kilukkam, Ulladakkam, Yodha, Vietnam Colony , Midhunam , Manichithrathazhu , Devasuram , Thenmavin Kombath etc . Among them the most elegant one was Devasuram directed by I . V . Sasi . Lal portrayed the role of a feudal lord , Mangalassery Neelakandan which was termed a classic by movie lovers .

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To millennium and present

The second half of 90,s started with a movie which can be termed cult classic, Spadikam by director Bhadran . His character Aadu Thoma or Thomas chacko was a grant fiesta for his fans and won critical acclaim too . The scenario slowly started changing during this period. Film makers now came up with some supernatural roles and tried to cash in on the superstardom . So came a lean phase with not much good movies which he used to do, its not on the quality of acting but on the movies only. He won best actor award for Kaalapani during this period, It was also selected by the Government of India as official entry for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film . Lal also did some movies like Aaram Thampuran, Ustaad, Narasimham etc which are just boilerplate roles of earlier classics only .

During this time he did Maniratnam's Iruvar in which he portrayed the real life of MGR . He produced and acted in Indo - French project Vaanaprastham which bags him another National award for best actor and the best film . The film was selected for the competitive section at the Cannes film festival . In 2002 he did a bollywood movie Company directed by Ram gopal varma which was a commercial hit and won critical applause . He got IIFA award for best supporting actor for this movie .Then came a string of movies with flaccid scripts which got nothing to deliver in terms of his acting caliber .

Then came Thanmatra directed by Blessy which won him the Kerala state award for best actor for portraying a person affected by Alzheimer's disease . From then onwards he started giving much importance to scripts and his choice of good scripts slowly started paying with procession of some good movies keeping balance with his fans choice and also critics . He won the 2007 Kerala state award for Best Actor for his performance as Valiakathu Moosa in the movie Paradesi. Mohanlal completed 30 years in the film industry on 8 September 2008.He did Keerthichakra, an army movie by Major Ravi which shows the pride of being a soldier and serving nation .

In 2008 came Amma produced multi starrer Twenty 20 in which Mohanlal starred along with all the prominent actors of Malayalam film industry . On the release of the movie in November 08, the movie started with huge initial collection and good reviews and broke all collection records. During this period he also did Madambi and Kurukshetra, both with box office success. He portrayed Albert Samson, the master builder in the movie Aakasha Gopuram with ease and perfection.

The first release of 2009 Red Chillies came out on Valentine’s Day and is turning out to be the first super hit of the year . Then came the most awaited movie of the year Saagar Alias Jacky . Sagar Alias Jacky Reloaded sets some records in Kerala Box office.The main one is it record inital collection which breaks the record of 20-20.Another one is Saj reloaded has 1000 house full shows in the first 3 days. Mohanlal’s distribution concern Maxlabs has taken a whopping distributors share of Rs 1.33 crore within four days of Sagar alias Jacky release and it is the most stylish role ever played by him . After amassing a distributor's share of 3.35 crs from its A class centre run, Jacky continued good business in smaller centres too . The movie has already covered its production costs and also made huge amounts from various rights sold .

After the stylish films like Red Chillies and Saagar Alias Jackie , the next film was Bhagawan . It hold the record of completing the entire shoot in just 17 hours with using 9 camera unites simultaneously . But the film didn't do well with masses and did nothing good for Mohanlal as an actor . The theme of the movie is about some terrorists trying to kidnap the home minister who was admitted in a hospital and lal played the role of a doctor .

The latest release , Brahmaram directed by Blessy brought back the Classic days of Malayalam movies . Bhoomika stars along with Lal and its the first road movie in Malayalam . The role and story was kept under suspense by the production team . Blessy says "No one other than Mohanlal in indian film industry can do ther role in Bhramaram". That itself tells the level of performance by Mohanlal and all says its one of the best ever performance by him . Bhramaram has taken a wonderful opening with a first week distributor's share of Rs 1.10 crores. The movie is becoming a huge hit financially and is already being talked about as the return of good malayalam cinema by noted critics who have praised Mohanlal for his magical acting that he is well known for, in the movie.

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Love for Theatre Arts

Mohanlal was very much fond to theatre arts . He got very good taste of performing live, be it drama or dance, he is up with perfection. He did many roles on screen, Kathakali Artist in movies like Raagam and Vaanaprastham , classical dancer in Kamaladalam , magician in Vishnulokam etc which were done with ease n precision . His search for challenges lands him on stage and he made his debut as Karna in Karnabharam , a Sanskrit play. The play was premiered at the Siri Fort Auditorium, New Delhi on March 29 , 2001 as part of the National School of Drama's theatre festival . He portrayed the role of Karna's mental anguish a day before the kurukshetra war while thinking on his past and his fidelity.

Then came Kadhayattam , a presentation promulgated by Mohanlal, enacting 10 unforgettable characters chosen from Malayalam literature . It said that this is his offering to his mother tongue. The presentation was a merger to be a question of step, the film expression, the techniques of his and lighting and the music, conceived by director T .K Rajeev Kumar. The play was materialized on November 1, 2003 at Senate Hall Thiruvananthapuram .

The latest offering on the queue was Chayamukhi, a play under the banner ' Kalidasa Visual Magic ‘. It is a production house promoted jointly by Mohanlal and actor Mukesh . The story revolves around the Great epic Mahabharata . According to the story, Chayamukhi is a mirror given to Bheema by Hidumbi in Virataparvam that enables the viewer to see the image of the person loves the most .Mohanlal played the role of Bheema, a flawless live performance which took viewers to another level of complacency . The show was staged on March 12, 2008 at the Lulu International Convention Centre Thrissur .

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A Creative Genius

A Creative genius, the hallmark of Mohanlal's acting is the spontaneity of his performance . He doesn't make any preparation for his roles . He changes into the character he plays and lives in that for the duration between Action and cut . For him good acting just happens from within unknowingly. For that, he is a versatile genius who can render any role under the sun with conviction. The roles he delivered, his natural easy manner of act and of looks of innocent chubby ones did it to like to the public and it came to be considered as just another member in almost every households in Kerala. This was reflected in his is widely popular figure and called affectionately as Lal, that later became Lalettan .


Mohanlal do movies which he feels challenging and is a director's actor. He is very much natural and has extempore ability to perform the core of characters with gratification and ease which make him stand on a different league of performer . He deliver more than what the director want from him and he strongly believes in the director when he commits a film . He mostly favour working in Malayalam movie world than going to other languages . He got a good circle of friends in Malayalam film industry that is part of his life from early school days and does movies for friends regardless the story and monetary benefits . Director Priyadarshan, Suresh Kumar, S. Kumar, M .G. Sreekumar etc are some among many of that group .


He was hesitant to do other language movies initially. He reasoned that being too much masala oriented and uncomfortable delineating other languages with aplomb. Later years he resorted and started doing movies, when directors like Maniratnam and Ram Gopal Varma came up with scripts like Iruvar and Company which make him infatuate and made him commit.

His desire to do classy elegant movies made him produce Vaanaprastham, Kaalapani, Bharatham etc which won him lots accolades and gave us visual delights . His commitment to his roles is seen in his involvement during the making of the film. It is a well-known fact that he learnt Bharatnatyam for his role in Kamaladalam and Kathakali for his role in Vaanaprastham. He studied classical dance from the prominent dancer Nattuvam Paramasivam and Kathakali from Kalamandalam Gopi .On screen Lal made both of them watch with awe that he did both forms of art with sheer perfection. Though, typical of this simple and humble human, he often downplays his efforts pointing that it is nothing in comparison to what the masters of the art have put in during years of practice.

In his long acting career, Lal was unfortunate to witness some awful incidents too. The most important among them was the death of Actor Alumoodan .During the shoot of film Adwaitham he collapsed to lal's lap and died. This incident created a deep impact on his attitude towards life. It explains his outlook to life and the reason he has now set his priorities the way he has.

After 30 years long span of acting career he is still young and fresh and ready for challenges. He harmonizes himself to any changing plots and make all around him feel delighted. Lal is still going stronger in terms of box office success and his popularity always on the rise among malayalees .Mohanlal is the Most Popular Keralite by a survey conducted by CNN IBN related to the Silver Jubilee of Kerala formation.

In recent years, he has concentrated on working on one film at a time to devote more to quality. In his own words, he's more concerned about whether the script is a good one or not rather than whether the movie will be a big hit or not.

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Awards and Honors

Civilian Honors

2001 : Padmashri by the Government of India

2008 : Lieutenant Colonel designation by the Indian Territorial Army

National Film Awards

1989 : Special Jury Award - Kireedam

1991 : Best Actor - Bharatham

1999 : Best Actor - Vaanaprastham

1999 : Best Film ( Producer ) - Vaanaprastham

State Awards

1986 : Best Actor - T .P. Balagopalan M.A.

1988 : Special Jury Award - Padha Mudhra, Chitram, Utsavappittennu, Aryan, Vellanakalude Nadu & Aham

1991 : Best Actor Ulladakkam, Kilukkam, Abhimanyu (Combined)

1991 : Second Best Film - Bharatham ( Producer )

1995 : Best Actor - Kalapani, Spadikam

1995 : Second Best Film - Kalapani (Producer)

1999 : Best Actor - Vaanaprastham

2005 : Best Actor - Thanmatra

2007 : Best Actor - Paradesi

Kerala Film Critics Awards

1988 : Best Actor - Padamudra, Chitram

1991 : Best Actor - Bharatam, Ulladakkam

1999 : Best Actor - Vaanaprastham

2005 : Best Popular Actor - Naran, Thanmatra

2007 : Best Actor - Paradesi

Film Fair Awards

1986 : Sanmasullavarkku Samadhaanam

1988 : Padamudra

1993 : Devasuram

1994 : Pavithram

1995 : Sphadikam

1997 : Iruvar

1999 : Vanaprastham

2005 : Thanmathra

2007 : Paradesi

National Film Academy

2000 : Best Actor - Narasimham, Life is beautiful

Mathrubhumi Awards

1999 : Best Actor - Vanaprastham

2003 : Best Actor - Balettan

2005 : Best Actor - Thanmathra

2007 : Popular Actor - Hallo, Chotta Mumbai

2008 : Best Actor - Aakashagopuram, Kurukshetra, Pakal Nakshatrangal

Asianet Film Awards

2003 : Balettan

2005 : Thanmathra, Udayananu Tharam

2006 : Kirtichakra

2007 : Most popular actor of the year

2008 : Madampi

Vanitha - Manorama Film Awards

2003 : Best Actor - Balettan

2005 : Best Actor - Thanmathra

2007 : Most popular actor of the year

2008 : Best Actor - Madampi, Aakashagopuram, Twenty20

International Indian Film Academy Awards - IIFA Award

2002: Best supporting Actor - Company

In 2006 Mohanlal is elected as the Most Popular Keralite by a survey conducted by CNN IBN related to the Silver Jubilee of Kerala formation.

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