Mohanlal Vishwanathan Nair (born 21 May 1958), known mononymously as Mohanlal is an internationally acclaimed Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema.In 2001 the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri for his contributions to Indian cinema. In 2009, he was granted the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel by the Territorial Army which was the first instance in the history of Indian Cinema of an actor being conferred an Army rank.
Career
Lal's first film was "Thiranottam" (1978). The film ran into trouble with the Censor Board and was only released in 1 center. His breakthrough came in 1980, when he was selected for the role of the antagonist, in Manjil Virinja Pookkal, which was a blockbuster hit.The period (1986-1995) is widely regarded as the golden age of Malayalam cinema with films characterised by detailed screenplays.1986 was one of his best years. Sathyan Anthikad's T.P.Balagopalan M.A got him his first Kerala State award for best actor.His role of an underworld don in Rajavinte Makan saw the emergence of Mohanlal as the superstar of Malayalam cinema.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.
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. Another role of a classical singer who is burdened by the jealousy and final death of his singer brother in Bharatham helped him bag the Best Actor National Award the following year. 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.In 2002, Mohanlal acted in his first Bollywood movie, Company.. It was a critical and commercial hit. He won the IIFA award, Star Screen Award for best supporting actor for this role.