Read with interest an interview conducted by IBN-CNN journalist with the legendary, Mohanlal (Being Mohanlal: Kerala's pride). Born on May 21, 1960, Mohanlal Viswanathan Nair is known by the stage name Mohanlal, and had acted in about 300 films in a career spanning 26 years. His contribution to Malyalam cinema is phenomenal. He along with Mammooty are the superstars in 'God's own country'. He has won critical acclaim for his work in off-beat but challenging roles. Who else could have done better justice to the role of a Kathakali dancer in Vanaprashnam? It is Mohanlal's genius that he could act in a two hour long Sanskrit play despite not knowing the language! In more than two decades of his cinematic life he has portrayed the entire gamut of human emotions in both mainstream as well as parallel cinema. A critic on Wikipedia notes, "His art [is] noted for its versatility, understated intensity, emotional depth, comedic timing, and the ability to portray characters that embodied the Malayali ethos.....Preferring the art of restraint, probably the most under appreciated quality in Indian cinema, he tries hard his to be just another character onscreen."
The Hindi movie fans got a flavour of Mohanlal's screen persona in Company as a Police Commisioner in hot pursuit of the dreaded D-gang. The role was short but Mohanlal did full justice to it and received the Best Supporting Actor award for it. But Kaala-paani, about the freedom struggle, received cold response from the Hindi cinema goers. Now he has agreed to essay the role of "Thakur" in a remake of Sholay. This role has been made memorable by the inimitable Sanjeev Kumar. Since RGV's Sholay also has Amitabh, who is donning Gabbar's role, therefore, expect some splendid 'acting fireworks' when the two Titans clash on screen. Let's wait and watch.
2 comments:
True. He is a great performer. Being a 'good' Nair boy myself, I'd like to add something more about him. I have been exposed to Mohanlal's work for the last 18 years. His earlier films (till the early 90's)were both funny and thought provoking. Great performances that made you feel for the guy. His forte is clearly comedy. But as the years went by, he made too many friends in the Malayalam film industry who needed his help. They had shit scripts that he would accept without even reading - just as a favour to them. This lead to a series of 'pathetic' and 'bizarre' roles over the last decade even lal will be ashamed of. Its a pity that such a great talent is wasted - of 15 movies, 1 is maybe watchable.
He is overweight and clearly aging - and he romances women young enough to be his daughter. Its a scary sight. Having said that, movies like 'TP Balagopalan' MA, 'Killukum' and 'Chitram' make me laugh loud out even today. One Vanaprastham in the midst of the stupid roles is not a great legacy. All he needs is a serious director and a decent script - he will deliver the best. Sholay is probably the next... and hopefully not the last!!
Well..i can hardly think of an actor no matter how good..who hasnt had forgettable projects under his/her belt. Amitabh is one such living example...his acting skills are "Supreme" to say the least..and I guess very few would argue on this but this same Amitabh who did Agneepath,Anand,Sholay has done mockery-films like aaj ka arjun; tufan etc. Infact his crappy films must be outnumbering his class filma by few multiples..if not I beg your pardon. Again amitabh is just an example..Sanjeev Kumar, Dhilip Kumar..etc..each one has his own set of "crappy films" which might have been signed either for money or out of sheer love/respect/fear for friend/family/underworld.
So Mohanlal is no exception. But yes i agree hopefully the next one is his best and not the last.
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