Mohanlal Viswanathan Nair (born 21 May 1960), better known as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer and occasional singer best known for his work in. Film critics, contemporaries, and other experts consider him as one of the greatest actors in for his versatile and natural acting.Widely regarded as a , he also holds a status in the popular culture of .

Mohanlal made his acting debut in (1978), but the film got released only after 25 years due to censorship issues. His first film to be released was (1980) in which he acted as the antagonist. He became a with the commercial success of (1986) which is widely considered as a cult classic in action movie genre. In a career spanning over three decades, Mohanlal has acted in over 300 Malayalam films in various genres. Mohanlal has also acted in , , and films. Of these, his notable roles were in (1997), directed by , and (2002), directed by .

Mohanlal was elected as the most popular Keralite in an online poll conducted by in 2006 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Kerala’s formation. In 2001, the Government of India honoured him with the , India’s fourth highest civilian honour, for his contributions towards Indian cinema. He has won four – two , one , and one as producer; along with six and eight . In 2009, he became the first and the only actor to receive the honorary rank of in the and in 2010 he received an from , Kerala.

Early life[]

Mohanlal Viswanathan Nair was born on 21 May 1960 in the village of district, , as the youngest child of Viswanathan Nair, a former bureaucrat and law secretary with the Kerala Government, and Santhakumari. He grew up at Mudavanmugal, Poojappura in . Mohanlal studied at , and graduated with a from in . Mohanlal received his first Best Actor Award when he was in sixth grade for a stage play called Computer Boy in which he enacted as a ninety-year-old person.

In 1977–78 he was the state wrestling champion.

Film career[]

Early years (1978–1985)[]

Mohanlal made his acting debut in 1978 with the film which was created by Mohanlal and his friends: , Suresh Kumar, Unni, , Ravi Kumar and others. Mohanlal played Kuttappan, a mentally disabled servant in the movie. The film was completed, but it took 25 years to release the movie.

In 1980, Mohanlal was cast in the lead antagonist role in – the directorial debut of . The movie became a major hit. Mohanlal’s friends had sent his application in response to an advertisement by . He was auditioned for the role in front of a panel that included professional directors; two of them gave him poor marks but Fazil and Jijo Appachan liked him. In an interview with in 2004, Mohanlal said that his looks as a young man might have fit the image. By 1983, Mohanlal was credited in more than 25 feature films most of which had him play negative roles. Films like , , Visa, Attakalasham, Kaliyil Alppam Kariyam, Ente mamattikutiiyammakku, Engane Nee marakkum, Unaroo, & Sreekrishnaparunthu changed his villain image[]. In Sasikumar’s , he became a successful hero. Mohanlal played his first comic lead role in an , as a young man in love with a girl whom he mistakenly believes to be rich, in the 1984 comedy . It also marked the beginning of Mohanlal-Priyadarshan duo who As of 2011 haveworked together in 29 movies. In 1985, he recorded a song for the film. , , and were some of his movies in this period.

Mohanlal played very different roles in films “made by the great masters” like , , , , and . Mohanlal, along with the actor and scriptwriter who played his sidekick in several movies, showcased the angst of unemployed, educated Malayali youth forced to adapt to hostile environments in many realistic social satires, some of which were written by Sreenivasan himself.

In 1986, he starred in , directed by , for which he received his first . He portrayed an unemployed young man who shoulders the responsibility of his family. His performance in as a harassed house-owner won him the also. Mohanlal was touted as the new Malayalam after the box-office success of in which he played underworld don, Vincent Gomez. He also starred in the , playing Vinod, a young man who becomes mentally ill upon witnessing his girlfriend’s death. In 1986, he played the role of Solomon in Padmarajan’s Namukku Parkkan Munthirithopukal. Mohanlal’s association with Padmarajan was very well noted because their films told stories which were well and truly ahead of their times and broke many conventional stereotypes prevailing during that time. Mohanlal appeared in 36 movies in 1986.

The following year, Mohanlal starred with and in the comedy , which became a box-office success. Mohanlal and Sreenivasan reprised their roles as the detectives Dasan and Vijayan respectively in the sequels, (1988) and (1990). , directed by , in which he portrayed a person torn between his twin love interests, broke many stereotypes in Indian films, such as the leading man falling in love with a second woman immediately after he is rejected by the first. The , , released in 1988, played for 365 days in a theatre, becoming the longest running Malayalam movie still which plays full shows daily. Mohanlal won a in 1988 for his acting in the movies, Aryan, , Ulsavapittennu and .

In 1989, the combination of writer and director included his role of Sethu Madhavan, who dreams of becoming a police officer but ends up as a criminal, in the tragedy , earned him a . Mohanlal later recalled that his portrayal of Sethumadhavan’s mental agony, commended as a natural performance, was spontaneous and that he “did what Sethumadhavan, my character, would have done in such a situation”, adding that acting was “akin to entering another person’s body.” In the same year, he acted in a movie which became a hit in the year, , which tells the story of a man who earned money in overseas and came back to his native to enjoy his life with family. He bought a bus, which changed his life fully. The former , , mentioned the movie as an example for ignorance by Kerala towards global economic changes during the inauguration of Global Investor Meet held at on 18 January 2003. In 1989, he starred in another one of Padmarajan’s movies, Season.

In the early 1990s, Mohanlal acted in a number of commercial movies, such as , and . His Highness Abdullah was the first movie produced by Mohanlal, under the banner of . Mohanlal appeared n Bharathan’s Thazhvaram in 1990. His romantic comedy (1991). His role in as a who is burdened by a jealous brother, earned him the in 1991. He portrayed a dancer in (1992). He took help from his choreographer and his co-actors and for enacting the dance scenes. Rajashilpi, , and were the other movies. The 1993 drama , written by and directed by , was one of Mohanlal’s most successful films and is regarded as a .

In 1994, Mohanlal starred in cult classic in the lead role as Sunny Joseph, a psychiatrist. was a 1995 work. Mohanlal won his third and fifth for his portrayal of Aadu Thoma, a young man who becomes a , estranged from his father, upon failing to meet the latter’s high expectations.

, an epic film about the prisoners in of and (1998). In 1997, he played the lead role in directed by Rajiv Anchal. The film was chosen as to be considered for nomination in the category for 1997.

Mohanlal’s first non-Malayalam movie was the biographical film directed by . The controversial film, in which Mohanlal depicted an actor who turns politician (based on ), was a critical success and won many awards including Best Film award at the and two .

In 1998, he produced and starred in alongside and . The film was a commercial success but was not received well by critics. The movie had two versions of which were screened in different regions based on whether Mohanlal or Mammootty was more popular there. This, however, became controversial when lawsuits were filed claiming that prints exhibited in -dominated areas showed Mohanlal marrying the heroine, whereas the ones in -dominated areas showed Mammootty marrying her.

Mohanlal depicted a artist whose personal life is a tragedy in the 1999 Indo-French period drama directed by won him the second National Award for Best Actor and was the first film that got him international recognition. The film was selected for the competitive section at the and his performance was critically acclaimed. It also earned him his fourth and sixth .

In 2000, Mohanlal starred in playing a rogue with a good heart. It became the highest grossing movie of all time. In the next two years, Mohanlal was typecast in similar larger-than-life roles in movies like , , , and . These movies (except for Ravanaprabhu) were widely criticised for their repetitive plots, lewd dialogues, punch lines and male chauvinistic outlook. “The Narasimham hangover is terrifically strong and it has, at least for the moment, killed the prospects of good films. I don’t see any other reason for the failure of well made female-oriented films like and,” wrote .

movie in the background of a village in . For the first time, yesterday’s actress shared screen space with Mohanlal, she played the role of his mother. It is credited as Mohanlal’s 300th film. The film became a decent hit. His last film of the year was , directed by , which was an thriller entirely plotted in middle east. It marked the return of Priyadarshan-Mohanlal- combo of the late 80s and 90s. While shooting in the Al Kateena deserts in , Canadian director visited the sets for almost three hours and was very impressed with Mohanlal’s acting skills and Priyan’s use of limited crew. The film was a superhit at the Christmas-New year box office.

In 2012, he was seen in six films, his first release was the much hyped big-budget film directed by and written by . He enacted the role of Casanova, a serial womaniser and the owner of Casanova’s Eternal Spring – an international chain of flower boutiques. Later he appeared in a cameo role in the Bollywood movie released on 27 April directed by. His next film was directorial was a crime , the story of a cop who is forced to investigate a series of murders. Mohanlal’s well tempered, calm and subdued acting was appreciated by the critics. It is the first Malayalam film to be released through online video streaming by in the and . Followed up was directed by which centered on the increasing habits of alcoholism in . The film was exempted from entertainment tax by the state government for creating an awareness on social issues faced by the society. The film completed 125 days theatrical run in Kerala and became a commercial success also. was released during the Onam festival, a filmdirected by , featured news media as the background. The film was heavily appreciated by the critics, remarking it as the example for a well crafted gripping thriller. It became one among the highest grossing Malayalam film of the year. The year ended with Christmas release directed by , an action thriller in which he appeared as Mad Maddy an encounter specialist who makes decisions on the spot who is assigned to investigate the missing of a teenage school girl in . The film dealt with the .

2013 was a remarkable year for Mohanlal, it was the year in which the all-time blockbuster of Malayalam film released. His first film of the year was , a vigilante thriller in which he played a vigilante nicknamed “Lokpal”. It was directed by and written by . directed by , was a non-linear investigation thriller based on a political murder. directed by was a romantic comedy film on the backdrop of IT companies. , a horror thriller directed by was a spin-off of Malayalam classic film , he reprised the role of Dr. Sunny from the original. His last release was directed by .

In 2014, he starred in action-drama alongside , directed by and produced by . The film released over 1150 screens worldwide with 207 screens in Kerala alone, which was the largest release for a film in Kerala in any language. And earned a 27.3 million (US$400,000) gross in its first day of release in Kerala, which is the highest single day earnings for any film across all languages in the state at that time. It completed 100 days theatrical run in few theatres in , Tamil Nadu. Mohanlal’s first Malayalam release of 2014 was , a directed by . In the next project, he appeared in an extended cameo role in , a adventurous set in an untold period. Mohanlal played a mysterious character, who at the end of the film revealed as a . It was an experimental film directed by and produced by . His next venture was a comical film written and directed by film director , came with an unfamiliar storytelling in Malayalam film industry, film discussed the politics of and the US, the largest democraciesof the world. It’s about a young political kingmaker who is assigned to make a governor candidate win the state gubernatorial elections, there he uses the Indian standard political gimmicks to win the election. The film goes in a logicless narrating style which was foreign to , even though pictured with an onscreen starting tagline to “keep logic away”, the film got undigested among audience who likes to watch classic political satire films like .

His first release in 2015 was the Kannada version of the – bilingual film . His performance as the revenge seeking DRDO scientist Mahadev was highly appreciated by the critics. His first Malayalam release was the cameo appearance in . directed by was his first film in the year in leading role alongside . The film was a success at the box office. Followed by the action thriller directed by Joshiy failed both critically and commercially. His next was directorial thriller . Though it met with the mixed critical response, the film was a commercial success. The revenge thriller was released the next. It also received mixed reviews from critics.

Filmography[]

Mohanlal has acted in over 320 and produced or co-produced over 35 films. His acting credits also include some , , , films. He has acted in 4 professional plays. He has sung over 30 songs, most of them for the films he acted in.

Other projects[]

Theatre and television[]

Mohanlal has acted in a few plays. He debuted on the stage as (a character in the Indian epic ) in Karnabharam, a play that was premiered in New Delhi as part of the directed by . The play depicts mental agony a day before the , as he thinks about his past and his faith.

Kadhayattam was a presentation enacted by Mohanlal, depicting 10 characters and situations selected from . The play was staged at on 1 November 2003. Chayamukhi written and directed by Prasanth Narayanan was presented under the banner of Kalidasa Visual Magic, a production house promoted jointly by Mohanlal and Malayalam actor . Mohanlal performed the role of and Mukesh performed the role of . The play was first staged at Thrissur on 12 March 2008. Mohanlal has also appeared in several television commercials and advertisemens including Malabar Gold ad with and , MCR ad with , Oceanus ad, Manappuram Gold Loan ad with , etc.

Musical band[]

In 2008, while shooting for the movie in which he plays the role of an officer, Mohanlal expressed interest to join as an officer. On 9 July 2008, he was formally inducted to the Territorial Army in the rank of by then Army Chief . Rules had to be amended to accommodate him as men above the age of 42 are not eligible to join the volunteer force. He is the first and only Indian actor to get the title

Mohanlal was awarded an by , in 2010. The citation praised Mohanlal as “an excellent performer after actor in the world, who played a rich variety of roles with equal ease and poise.”

In 2012, he was bestowed with the title of in Korean martial art from , the world Taekwondo Headquarters, , South Korea. He is the first and only South Indian actor to get the title.