Following the journey of Mohanlal, tracing his path from childhood to legendary super stardom.
Mohanlal was born in Elanthoor, Pathanamthitta district of Kerala, as the son of Mr. Vishwanathan Nair, a lawyer and government employee, and Mrs. Santhakumari on 21st May 1960. The family later shifted to Mudavanmugal in Thiruvananthapuram, which was his maternal house.
Mohanlal began his schooling at Mudavanmugal LP School, from where he moved to Model School, Thiruvananthapuram. It was there he found a platform for his acting skills, being chosen as the best actor of the school in 1972. He bagged the award by competing with the 10th-grade students while he was in the 6th grade. He completed his graduation at Mahatma Gandhi College, Thiruvananthapuram, where he made associations with fellow students passionate about theater and films.
Mohanlal got his first entry into film when his friends started a company called Bharath Cine Group. They made the movie 'Thiranottam', in which Mohanlal played a comic role. However, the film was only released in one theater. His meaningful breakthrough came in the 1980s when his friends got him to audition for a production house. He was selected by Navodaya Appachen to play the antagonist in the movie 'Manjil Virinja Pookkal', which became a major hit.
Debuting in 'Manjil Virinja Pookkal', which was a big success at the box office, Mohanlal played a sadist youngster. His performance gave a new dimension to negative characters. His character \"Narendran\" got imprinted in the hearts and minds of Malayalis, witnessing the rise of a superstar who would become a significant force in Indian cinema.
By 1983, he had featured in more than 25 movies. The mid-1980s proved to be most beneficial for him, as Sathyan Anthikad’s ‘T.P. Balagopalan M.A’ fetched him his first Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor. He portrayed an underworld don in the blockbuster film 'Rajavinte Makan' in 1986, which elevated him to ultimate stardom in the Malayalam industry and boosted his superstar image.
In the 1990s, Mohanlal acted in notable commercial and art films like ‘His Highness Abdullah’, ‘Midhunam’, ‘Minnaram’, and ‘Manichithrathazhu’. The epic ‘Devasuram’ remains a hallmark. He made his non-Malayalam debut with Mani Ratnam's Tamil film ‘Iruvar’ (1997), and won his second National Award for Best Actor for ‘Vanaprastham’ (1999), which screened at Cannes. Furthermore, ‘Guru’ (1997) was India's official entry to the Oscars.
Mohanlal cemented his permanent spot as NUMERO UNO in the Malayalam film industry. He was chosen by CNN-IBN as the most popular Keralite ever in a 2008 online survey. By virtue of his tremendous crowd-pulling capability, he and his movies remain the mainstay of the industry.
‘Keerthichakra’ (2006) proved to be a breakthrough military action movie. Major Mahadevan's influence inspired many youngsters to join the armed forces. Later, the Indian Army honored him by conferring the title of honorary Lieutenant Colonel in the Indian Territorial Army in 2009.
The year 2013 witnessed a major milestone: ‘Drishyam’ became the first Malayalam movie to cross the 50 cr mark. In 2016, ‘Pulimurugan’ became the first Malayalam movie to enter the 100 cr club. Besides Malayalam, Mohanlal's roles in Telugu cinema (like 'Janatha Garage') proved to be massive successes, establishing his cross-linguistic appeal across South India.