Between the two Malayalee actors, Mohanlal and Mammooty, they have garnered five national awards. Mammooty won three. Yet, the general public of Kerala appears to love Mohanlal more. In the final dissection, Mammooty may have done better roles in the eyes of discerning critics. Mohanlal has been less wise in choosing his films. But as in cricket, a genius may falter often but we swear by him, because watching him gives us unbounded joy. And that's how it is with Mohanlal, especially if you are a Malayalee.
In his 300-odd movies, he has done some roles that probably no film star in the country has even attempted. In Padamudra he is a virile papad seller and is sought after by housewives in a village; in Thuvanthubikal he initiates a virgin into the sex trade. In Vaanaprastham, he is a poor Kathakali dancer in a physical relationship with an affluent connoisseur who is impressed with his Arjuna Vesham, a dance role. Even Kathakali maestros, appreciated his performance.
Mohanlal entered mainstream Malayalam films as a full blown villain and later became a mass star with an unprecedented following. In the early '90s, riding on some brilliantly scripted films penned by his alter ego and sidekick Sreenivasan, he conveyed the angst of the unemployed, educated Malayalee. But he does not fight against the system. Very rarely has he been the angry young man. Usually, he adapts himself in the world he has been thrown into. In Gandhi Nagar Second Street he is an unemployed youth who becomes a Gurkha guard without knowing a word of Nepali or Hindi. "In Nadodikaatu wearing Arab attire, we land in Dubai, only to realise that we were duped by the agent who had brought us to Chennai!" he recounts.
Here is where the big difference lies. Most actors like Amitabh Bachchan, in the late '70s, portrayed these angst-ridden roles in larger-than-life characters. Mohanlal's roles were more realistic.
This man whose art is keenly studied by other actors says somewhat casually, "I don't act. I just react to situations. I do not even see myself as a film star. Movies just happened in my life. Otherwise I would have become a chef." He is now bringing out a book on his passion -- Kerala: A culinary journey. He admits that his indulgence shows on his body. "But I think people in Kerala will not like me if I begin to look like Salman Khan."
He turns a bit serous when he reflects over how, of late, there has been a decline in the quality of Malayalam movies. The old generation of script-writers like M T Vasudevan Nair, with whom he was associated in films like Panchagni where he plays a journalist who tries to rescue a Naxalite from capital punishment, have almost vanished. "There are very few new good directors coming up," he says. "We had made movies like Rang De Basanti and Lage Raho Munnabhai long back," he says reflecting over the golden age of Malayalam
Mohanlal entered mainstream Malayalam films as a full blown villain and later became a mass star with an unprecedented following. In the early '90s, riding on some brilliantly scripted films penned by his alter ego and sidekick Sreenivasan, he conveyed the angst of the unemployed, educated Malayalee. But he does not fight against the system. Very rarely has he been the angry young man. Usually, he adapts himself in the world he has been thrown into. In Gandhi Nagar Second Street he is an unemployed youth who becomes a Gurkha guard without knowing a word of Nepali or Hindi. "In Nadodikaatu wearing Arab attire, we land in Dubai, only to realise that we were duped by the agent who had brought us to Chennai!" he recounts.
Here is where the big difference lies. Most actors like Amitabh Bachchan, in the late '70s, portrayed these angst-ridden roles in larger-than-life characters. Mohanlal's roles were more realistic.
This man whose art is keenly studied by other actors says somewhat casually, "I don't act. I just react to situations. I do not even see myself as a film star. Movies just happened in my life. Otherwise I would have become a chef." He is now bringing out a book on his passion -- Kerala: A culinary journey. He admits that his indulgence shows on his body. "But I think people in Kerala will not like me if I begin to look like Salman Khan."
He turns a bit serous when he reflects over how, of late, there has been a decline in the quality of Malayalam movies. The old generation of script-writers like M T Vasudevan Nair, with whom he was associated in films like Panchagni where he plays a journalist who tries to rescue a Naxalite from capital punishment, have almost vanished. "There are very few new good directors coming up," he says. "We had made movies like Rang De Basanti and Lage Raho Munnabhai long back," he says reflecting over the golden age of Malayalam
