UNDERRATED ‘80s
At the onset of the ‘80s, after he debuted
as a scrawny villain in Fazil’s Manjil
Virinja Pookkal, Mohanlal did close
to 100 films (back then, most actors in the
industry averaged about 15 films a year),
with a range of supporting roles in
multi-starrers. One can draw parallels with
Rajinikanth, considering he also started as
an antagonist, shifted to supporting roles,
and then became a superstar.
Even back then, along with his Average Joe
roles in Sathyan Anthikad and Priyadarshan’s
films, Mohanlal was never wary of
experimenting. Look at the sheer variety of
characters that comprise his early
filmography: the irredeemably devilish PJ
Jayarajan who would kill for money in
Uyarangalil, the debauched black
magician in Sreekrishna Parunthu,
the vengeful Bhadran in
Karimpinpoovinakkare, the
journalist Rasheed who falls for the fiery
activist Indira in Panchagni, or
the boisterous boyfriend in Kattathe
Kilikkoodu.
But it wasn’t until 1986 that Mohanlal got
his first major “upgrade” with Rajavinte
Makan (The King’s Son).
Loosely based on the Sidney Sheldon
bestseller Rage of Angels, Mohanlal
starred as Vincent Gomes, a formidable mafia
boss. It also marked his switch from goofy
roles to an action hero. Originally written
for Mammootty, the film was a huge draw at
the box office and catapulted Mohanlal into
the rarefied strata of Malayalam cinema’s
emerging superstar.
Despite his meteoric rise, till the mid-90s,
Mohanlal was circumspect about not taking up
roles that were solely meant to serve his
superstardom. This era — the late ‘80s and
early ‘90s — also marked the simultaneous
emergence of several talented screenwriters
and directors in Malayalam cinema, which
benefitted a consummate performer like
Mohanlal.
If you were to look at images of the actor
in his various roles during this era, even a
diehard fan might have trouble telling one
apart from the other, since Lal wasn’t a
believer in physical makeovers for each
character he portrayed. His signature
mannerisms were intact: the shoulder tilt,
childlike/sheepish smile, mischievous
laughter. However, his performances worked
at a level beyond these external markers; he
effortlessly internalised his characters,
with an uncanny instinct for what made them
tick.
Some of his onscreen partnerships in this
period turned out to be equally momentous:
Nadodikkattu, where Mohanlal’s
goofy charm supplements Sreenivasan’s wry
wit; his jugalbandi with Nedumudi Venu in
several Priyadarshan/Kamal/Sibi Malayil
films; the hysterical Tom and Jerry duelling
between him and Jagathy Sreekumar that
spawned a million memes; or the
one-upmanship between him and Mukesh
(Boeing Boeing, Vandanam) that
still makes for hilarious revisits.
Mohanlal dug into characters that were beset
with everyday problems. His onscreen avatars
grappled with unemployment, encompassed con
artists, tourist guides, serial womanisers,
crime lords, auto drivers, rich alcoholic
brats, and more.
As a lover, Mohanlal’s onscreen iterations
were whimsical and charming. From
Jayakrishnan (Thoovanathumbikal) to
Solomon (Namukku Parkkan
Munthirithoppukal) and Sunny
(Sukhamo Devi), all these
characters had their own quirks and
insecurities, oscillating between toxicities
and vulnerabilities.
SUPERB ‘90s
The ‘90s saw a tonal shift in Mohanlal’s
characters. Gradual strains of alpha
maleness trickled into his characters, yet
they refrained from self-glorification.
One of the earliest indicators was also
among the best roles of his career —
Devasuram, in which he played an
arrogant, raucous womaniser who falls from
grace. Meanwhile, Spadikam’s Aadu
Thoma redefined the archetypal mass hero.
Toxic parenting has transformed Thoma into a
raffish thug who openly challenges societal
conventions. But at heart he is a lonely,
battered soul, who hides his tears behind
his Ray-Bans. Mohanlal brought both sass and
intensity to the character, balancing the
requirements of being a mass hero and an
actor flexing his craft.
Through the major part of the ‘90s, you can
witness the actor pushing the envelope with
a multitude of characters, a blend of the
heroic and the ordinary with his particular
brand of elan. For every
Kalippattam there was a
Yoddha, a Pakshe followed
a Pingami, or a Mithunam
clashed with a Butterflies.
The stretch from the late ‘80s to the
mid-90s yields nary a bad Mohanlal film.
Circa the late ‘90s and early 2000s,
Mohanlal soon segued into the
larger-than-life, alpha male, action hero on
screen. In a sense, it was a stunning
remodelling for the actor. He brought a
sublime suppleness to action scenes that
made them seem raw, unrehearsed. His
collaborations with directors Shaji Kailas
and Ranjith bore box office winners and soon
there was a pattern. So out came the
self-anointed, smooth-talking,
punchline-spouting saviours — the
Induchoodans and Karthikeyans, Kasinathans
and Jagannathans, as well as Pulikkattil
Charlie, Chirakkal Sreehari and their ilk.
These characters were brash, sexist egotists
who believed themselves the knights in
shining armour to every woman they might
encounter.
Though Mohanlal occasionally shined as an
actor (Udayananu Tharam,
Thanmathra, Pranayam,
Bhramaram, Vanaprastham),
by the mid-2000s the superstar in him had
taken supersedence. Blatant sexism continued
to be a bone of contention in all of his
(and Mammootty's) films. One can perhaps
ascribe it to the time itself, where such
formulaic films were the norm, but it is
also true that these superstars facilitated
their growing popularity. And, since the gap
between the superstars’ ages and that of
their new leading ladies grew ever larger,
the latter also occupied far less screen
space, making the equal partnerships with
powerhouse actresses like Shobana and
Revathy a thing of the past.
UNTIL 2022
It’s very easy to pick Mohanlal’s best
performance in the last decade: Pranayam, in
which he played a wheelchair-bound
sexagenarian professor. And it’s a role he
pulled off with characteristic ease. But
that isn’t saying a whole lot, when there
have been at least 44 or more films that the
actor has been in during this time.
Some of the choices were embarrassing (to
put it mildly): the son of an Indo-Chinese
descendent in Ittimani, the loving
brother with night vision in Big
Brother, the undercover agent
Neyyattinkara Gopan in Aarattu,
gemologist in Neerali, or
the young father of an adult son in Bro
Daddy — which had the actor
desperately trying to appear young and
virile. It also points towards the
melancholy reality that the actor in
Mohanlal has stopped evolving in the last
10-12 years. One can’t recall the last time
he has surprised us on screen. It also leads
one to feel that he is taking his adoring
fans for granted.
Mohanlal today seems in no mood to break
away from his stardom, content to rest on
his past laurels and showing an
unwillingness to collaborate with new
directors. He would rather invest in big
budget extravaganzas and mindless star
vehicles that solely exist to prop up his
brand. Sure, there have been box office
biggies in between (Drishyam,
Pulimurugan, Lucifer) but Mohanlal
the actor has been in self-imposed
hibernation for the last decade or more.
There is speculation though that he will be
teaming up with Lijo Jose Pellissery for a
movie based on a boxer. Now, that
might just turn things around. Mohanlal the
actor is ripe for some reinvention.
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