I have always admired Mohanlal’s work. The bedrock of believability that he brings to his characters, and the understated performances that have been with us for more than forty years, leave us indebted.
The prolific director Priyadarshan and Mohanlal have 30 done films together, most of them admirable. But none as deeply satisfying as Oppam where Mohanlal plays a blind watchman (you heard the oxymoron right) who deals with a serial killer’s presence in the building. Gripping from the word go, this suspense thriller is unique because we all can see the killer, but the hero can’t. I haven’t seen any actor look so believably blind since Naseeruddin Shah in Sparsh.
In a career of 41 years, Mohanlal has been dared, done it all. His range of roles and spectrum of characters could put Burton, Brando and Bachchan to shame. Though some of his finest performances are in obscure films.
Says Priyadarshan, “Movie buffs think of Mohanlal and I as Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese. I think Mohanlal is more versatile. There is nothing he can’t do.”
In one of my favourite Malayalam films, Kilukkam which Mohanlal’s pal Priyadarshan directed a tourist guide in Ooty (Mohanlal) and his friend (Jagathy Sreekumar) befriend a tourist(Revathy) who isn’t all there. Though dwelling on mental illness, the film is remarkably light in tone without belittling the issue. And though Revathy is the focus of interest in the plot, Mohanlal and Jagathy Sreekumar bring the house down with their one-liners.
Priyadarshan tells me a lot of the dialogues were improvised. “Mohanlal can play anything, and it is not 'playing'. It is becoming the character. In 'Oppam', he plays a blind man. You have to see how natural he looks. No attempt to look blind. Watching him, we just know he can't see." On working with the prolific Priyadarshan, Mohanlal once told me, “I have done almost 30 films with Priyan. Chemistry between the director and actor certainly helps. A film unit is like a family where every member does his or her job. To me, acting is almost like meditation. I don't really know what I'm doing. Nor do I prepare for my roles. To me, acting is reacting to a given situation. If I think a response to something is incorrect, I say so to the director. At another time, the director may disapprove of my interpretation. Then I do it his way. Acting is a strange thing, I can't really define it. Every actor's life is short. It exists only between the 'action' and 'cut'.”
Many consider Kireedam Mohanlal’s most influential film to date. It is the story of Sethumadhavan the son of an honest police constable who ends up on the wrong side of the law when he rescues his father from being assaulted by a local gangster’s henchmen. Director Sibi Malayil brings out the best in Mohanlal, showing him as both a loving son and a ferocious anti-social. Audiences loved maverick Mohanlal in both avatars. Mohanlal’s buddy Priyadarshan remade the film in Hindi as Gardish with Jackie Shroff in Mohanlal’s role. It wasn’t the same.
Another favourite of mine is Vanaprastham. If you haven’t seen Mohanlal in this film you haven’t seen anything. Mohanlal played Kunhikuttan a lower-caste Kathakali dancer whose mesmerizing stage performances win him the love of a higher-caste art patroness Subhadra (Suhasini) even while his own father rejects him. His love for Subhadra comes to a tragic end when she too rejects him. Mohanlal’s stunning performances of the Kathakali dance style have to be seen to be believed. He shocked me by confessing he hadn’t learn Kathakali for the film. “Kathakali isn’t something you can learn in a few days. I just rehearsed for my dances in Vanaprastham for the camera, that’s it. No prior preparation. Of course, I had my guru on the sets throughout the shooting.” Drishyam( 2013): Though this is not one of my favourite Mohanlal movies, and though I find George Kutty too cocksure to be convincing in his crime-covering triumph, no discussion on Mohanlal’s repertoire can be complete without Drishyam. It is hands-down his most popular film, endlessly discussed on the internet. Mohanlal’s class act as a movie buff who borrows scenes from his favourite actors to cover up the murder of his daughter’s blackmailer carries the film. Kamal Haasan and Ajay Devgn in the Tamil and Hindi remakes just can’t compare.
Mohanlal’s foray into Hindi cinema was not a happy one. In Company his first and only foray into Hindi cinema Mohanlal starred as top cop Verapalli Srinivasan who was based on real-life Dhanushkodi Sivanandhan. Since Mohanlal played a South Indian the accented Hindi was not a problem.
After the release of Company, I had asked Mohanlal why he stayed away from Hindi cinema. He felt the offers have to be good enough. The reason he agreed to do Company is because it was an irresistible offer. He had seen Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya. Mohanlal has no difficulty doing Hindi films. He learnt Hindi in school and college. “I'm very comfortable doing a film in any language, Malayalam, Tamil or Hindi. There are no problems from my side. I don't mind doing more Hindi films if they excite me.”
Mohanlal’s recent films have proven a disappointment for his fans.
What on earth made him do a Rajinikanth in his recent film Aaraattu? Every frame is dedicated to glorifying Mohanlal’s august presence. Every shot is targeted at telling the world what a great soul he is. As if we need to be reminded of his greatness! What do we see in Aaraattu? A nearly three hours’ long love letter to Mohanlal. There are more than forty characters in this film. I saw only Mohanlal in every frame. And if not Mohanlal, then characters talking about him with that mix of awe and veneration that went of style with N T Rama Rao’s generation.
Today’s audience in every part of India looks for relatable heroes, vulnerable, even weak yet determined, like Thomas Tovino in Minnal Murali or earlier, Prithviraj in Mumbai Police, or Jayasurya in Sunny. I watched Mohanlal with a mix of horror and hilarity in Aarraatu, beating up a dozen goons, flirting with everything in a saree(that is, whenever the women are allowed visibility in this stag party). No one buys into this brand of self-promotion unless the plot cleverly justifies if not rationalizes the lionizing tricks. The screenplay of Aarrattu is like a primer for potboilers. It ticks all the boxes but forgets to hold the boxes steady in their place. At a time when Mohanlal’s son is showing us he is more than a chip off the block, the father of Malayalam cinema
Or that other recent fluff stuff he did. Why on earth would two such towering giants of Malayalam cinema Mohanlal and Prithiviraj Sukumaran get together for something as lightweight as Bro Daddy? Unless it was for this very reason: that some idiot like me would ask this silly question… But sorry, boss. When Prithviraj directs the mighty Mohanlal I want to experience something as potent as Lucifer, the 2019 massy masala-dosa garnished with spicy spine-tingling stuffing with which Prithviraj made his impressive directorial debut. I can see where this new Mohanlal-Prithviraj alliance must have come from.
Fanboy that he is, Prithviraj must have gone to Mohanlal Sir asking him to let him direct him in another film. “Only if you act with me; but let’s do something fun,” Mohanlal The Great, feeling the full weight of Marakkar on his shoulder, must have said. So, fun it is. At least the two actors playing a buddy-like father and son seem to be enjoying themselves negotiating the smooth but brainless moves of the script that seems to be inspired by Amit Sharma’s Badhaai Ho. The lines are designed to be cool and clever. This self-awareness that runs through the narrative like a stubborn virus kills the impact of the humour completely.
It is not our fault if we expect Mohanlal to conquer new peaks with every film. Such are the expectations that he has built over the years. He can’t afford to slip up now. His fans won’t forgive him.
Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha.
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