Mohanlal is celebrating his 58th birthday today.
The first Mohanlal film I watched was Mani Ratnam’s Iruvar — one of the many reasons I have to thank the filmmaker. Iruvar is a film that is memorable on several counts — Mani’s intrinsic style, its political nature, an assortment of talent that is extraordinary for several reasons. But I am going to talk about the introduction it gave me to the powerhouse of talent that is Mohanlal.
Iruvar is a story that is loosely based on the most important political trio in Tamil Nadu — MG Ramachandran, Karunanidhi, and Jayalalithaa. Three very important names in the world of Tamil cinema and politics, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it was a risque film to take. But it became to be the marvel it is now for that reason. While Mohanlal played the role based on MG Ramachandran, Prakash Raj took the part based on Karunanidhi. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan made her debut with the part that was inspired by Jayalalithaa.
Mohanlal’s body language in the film is something that is a thing of intrigue and fascination. MGR is known for his flamboyant body language and outlandish gestures, which he performs with an inimitable flair. Take Mohanlal in Iruvar and you would see everything that MGR was known for — the hop, the arms that are always ready to embrace and so on. But, Mohanlal brings his own subtle charm to the mix. He made sure that he didn’t imitate the yesteryear star but rather do the same in his own style and what a delight that was to watch.
My next memorable encounter with Mohanlal was Jeethu Joseph’s Dhrishyam, another movie that was a game changer. A brilliantly, written and executed thriller, Drishyam turned out to be one of the highest earners for Malayalam cinema. By now, there is a casual, laid-back demeanour that I was looking for in Mohanlal. And then came Pulimurugan and my perceptions were transformed again. Forget the movie, but it was watching Mohanlal in that avatar which was intriguing. It was as if he could do nothing wrong.
As a non-Malayali, there is a huge part of Mohanlal’s work that I haven’t witnessed. But it doesn’t take much to say that he is easily one of the stars who has continuously made himself relevant. In a career that spans over 300 movies, it is natural to have hits and misses. What matters is how they come back, and Mohanlal has done that with flair.
Mohanlal and also his other half in the world of superstardom, Mammootty, are perennially busy. Take a look at the projects that Mohanlal is currently part of – the magnum opus mystical film Odiyan, the thriller Neerali, a Tamil film with KV Anand and Suriya, the 1000 crore Mahabharata film and a cameo in Kayamkulam Kochunni. The variety is mindblowing and Mohanlal has made sure that age has nothing to do with the roles he takes. His physical transformation for Odiyan and the stunts for Kayamkulam Kochunni have only given us more reasons to expect the world out of him. And that we will continue doing for several birthdays to come.