Mohanlal's Adventure

Mohanlal Vishwanathan Nair (Malayalam: മോഹന്‍ലാല്‍ വിശ്വനാഥന്‍ നായര്‍) (born May 21, 1960), commonly known as Mohanlal or Lal, is an Indian film actor and producer, who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. A four-time National Award winner, Lal is famous for his versatility and natural acting style. Mohanlal is best known for his movie roles of the late 80s and early 90s. His most notable roles include Solomon in Namukku Parkkan Munthiri Thoppukal, Dasan in Nadodikkattu, Jayakrishnan in Thoovanathumbikal, Vishnu in Chithram, Sethu Madhavan in Kireedam, Gopi in Bharatham, Mangalassery Neelakandan in Devasuram, Anand in Iruvar, Kunhikuttan in Vanaprastham, and Thomas "Aadu Thoma" Chacko in Spadikam.

Early years (1978-1985)

Lal's first film was "Thiranottam" (1978). The film ran into trouble with the Censor Board and was never released. The breakthrough came in 1980 at the age of 20, when he was selected for the role of the antagonist in Manjil Virinja Pookkal. He had no dearth of opportunities thereafter and he played roles of gradually increasing importance in a number of movies in the following years. In the year 1983 he had to his credit more than 25 feature films. His performance in Uyarangalil, a story of cheating and deception, written by the noted novelist and script-writer M. T. Vasudevan Nair and directed by I. V. Sasi, was critically acclaimed. He then took up a comic role in his director-friend and college mate Priyadarshan's debut Poochakkoru Mookkuthi.

Mohanlal was born in Pathanamthitta in Kerala to Mr. Vishwanathan Nair, a government employee, and Mrs. Santhakumari. He grew up at Mudavanmugal, Poojappura in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), as his father was employed in the Kerala Government Secretariat in the legal department. He attended the local school at Mudavanmugal and later enrolled into the Govt. Model Higher Secondary School, Thiruvananthapuram. An average student at school, he took to acting very early in life, when he used to participate in school-plays. In the sixth grade, young Mohanlal was chosen the best actor in school, an award that was usually bagged by tenth graders.

After schooling, he joined Mahatma Gandhi College, Thiruvanathapuram (Under Kerala University) for his bachelors degree. He continued his association with acting and won numerous best actor awards[3]. Here he met a group of fellow-students who were passionate about theatre and feature films[citation needed]. They were instrumental in getting him his first breakthrough in film, and some of them, notably Priyadarshan and Manian Pilla Raju, went on to become popular movie directors and actors.