User:Arcendet/Mohanlal

Early years (1978-1985)

Mohanlal's first film was Thiranottam (1978), a remake of a Tamil film. The film was only released in one theater because of censorship difficulties. His breakthrough came in 1980, when he was selected by Navodaya Appachen for the role of the antagonist in Manjil Virinja Pookkal, which was a blockbuster hit. In 1983, Mohanlal was credited in more than 25 feature films. He then expanded into comic roles by acting in Priyadarshan's directorial debut Poochakkoru Mookkuthi.

Golden period (1986-1995)

The period of 1986–1995 is widely regarded as the golden age of Malayalam cinema, with films characterised by detailed screenplays, lucid narration and fresh ideas narrowing the gap between art and commercial films.

In 1986, Mohanlal worked with Sathyan Anthikad, winning his first Kerala State award for best actor for his work in T. P. Balagopalan M.A. He also portrayed an underworld don in Rajavinte Makan, a blockbuster movie. In the same year, he played an asylum inmate in Thalavattom, a harassed house-owner in Sanmanassullavarku Samadhanam, a journalist in M. T. Vasudevan Nair's Panchagni, a farm owner in love in Namukku Parkkan Munthiri Thoppukal and an unemployed youth forced to become a Goorkha in Gandhi Nagar 2nd street.

His association with the writer-director combination of Sreenivasan and Sathyan Anthikkad, who excelled in making socially hard-hitting satires, resulted in films such as Nadodikkattu, in which he played an unemployed youth and Varavelpu, in which he played a Gulf returnee who is welcomed back home to greedy relatives and a state with a hostile climate for entrepreneurs. Director Priyadarshan's musical comedies, notably Chithram and Kilukkam had him playing the typical Indian romantic hero and increased his popularity among the teenage movie-goers.

[[Image:Devasuram poster1.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Mohanlal portrayed a real-life character in ''[[Devaasuram]]'' (1993), directed by [[I. V. Sasi]] and written by [[Ranjith (director)|Ranjith]]. The film went on to become a hit and a [[cult classic]].]]

Thoovanathumbikal, 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. Amrithamgamaya was about a man who ends up at the house of a boy whom he had unknowingly killed in college during a ragging session. Thazhvaram was another notable film of this period.

The combination of writer Lohitha Das and director Sibi Malayil is considered to have produced some of his most haunting roles. His role of Sethu Madhavan, who dreams of becoming a police officer but ends up as a criminal in the film Kireedam, earned him a Special Jury award. His role in Bharatham, as a classical singer who is burdened by the jealousy and eventual death of his singer brother, earned him the Best Actor National Award the following year.

The 90s saw him continuing his success with more entertainers like His Highness Abdullah, in which he played a Muslim disguised as a Namboodiri to assassinate a royal. His other notable commercial movies during this period such as Midhunam, Minnaram and Thenmavin Kombath, continued the tradition of the 80s with well-written scripts and a rich set of characters. Devaasuram, written by Ranjith and directed by I. V. Sasi, set in the feudal atmosphere of central Kerala, was particularly noted for Mohanlal's portrayal of a proud, rich and brash young man who is slowly humbled by a chain of events. Director Bhadran's Spadikam became a cult classic for the revolutionary way in which the stunts were picturised. Critically acclaimed films were few in number during this period and were mostly semi-entertainers like Manichitrathazhu.

This was also a period when the father-son duo of Thilakan and Mohanlal had a great impact on the Malayalam film industry and especially on fans of both actors.

Later years (1996-present)

During this period of his career, filmmakers cashed in on the immense popularity that Mohanlal enjoyed in Kerala by portraying him as an invincible, larger-than-life hero in movies. Movies like Aaram Thamburan, Narasimham, Ravanaprabhu and Naran used this image of his to great effect and became blockbusters. After their initial novelty, these films faced criticism from many quarters over their lack of realism and for creating movies around Mohanlal. Priyadarshan's Kalapani (an account of India's freedom struggle against the British that focused on the Cellular prisons of Andaman islands) and Lohithadas's Kanmadam were some of his notable films during the late 1990s.

It was at this time that Mohanlal started getting noticed outside the Malayalam-speaking world. He acted in his first non-Malayalam movie when popular director Mani Ratnam roped him in for the Tamil film Iruvar. It had Mohanlal playing MGR, a cult figure in the neighbouring Tamil Nadu. The Indo-French production Vaanaprastham, in which he played the role of a Kathakali dance artist with an identity crisis, 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 Cannes Film Festival and his performance was critically acclaimed.

Mohanal started the new millenium with Narasimham, which went on to become one of the highest grossing movies in the history of Malayalam cinema. In 2002, Mohanlal acted in his first Bollywood movie, Company, which introduced him to the wider Hindi-speaking audience in India. It was a critical and commercial hit. He won the IIFA Star Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor for this role. In 2005, the film Thanmathra ("Molecule") won him the Kerala State Award for Best Actor for portraying a person affected by Alzheimer's disease. His second Bollywood movie, Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag, was a remake of the 1975 blockbuster movie Sholay, in which he played the character of the inspector played by Sanjeev Kumar in the original. In 2005 Mohanlal acted in Rasathanthram directed by Sathyan Anthikkad, which became another record-breaking blockbuster. Mohanlal won the 2007 Kerala State Award for Best Actor for his performance as Valiakathu Moosa in the movie Paradesi. Mohanlal's Hallo became the biggest hit of 2007. In 2009, Mohanlal acted with Kamal Hassan in a Tamil movie called Unnaipol Oruvan. He started the year 2010 with the realistic family entertainer Evidam Swargamanu, directed by Roshan Andrews. In 2010 he guest-starred in Janakan with Suresh Gopi; the film was well received by the public. He then starred in Alexander the Great, a remake of the Hollywood movie Rain Man. Later on he starred in Shikkar, which released in September 2010 and became another blockbuster. His last film in 2010 was Kandahar, in which Amitabh Bachan played a prominent role; it was released on 16 December. He also starred in Christian Brothers in 2010, which is slated to release on January 26, 2011.