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44 Responses to “Mohanlal can act with his back to the camera”

1. Dhiraj Ramakrishnan on January 10th, 2007 1:24 am

   I remember the scene where Mohanlal goes to Prakash Raj’s house after he becomes a star and Prakash Raj takes him upto the terrace to show his power. His hands tremble at first and then he confidently starts waving at the hordes of people who have come to see him.

2. kartik krishnan on January 10th, 2007 1:29 am

   wow ..
   nostalgic post wasan …. mohanlal acting with his ‘back to the camera’ ????

   my pick is the one in his struggling days where he is told to deliver a dialouge of a cop ..and he fumbles …. and then he is ‘demoted’ from the cop to a constable…. he is reluctant to do the scene … but he does it for the money. He takes the false beard and tries to fix it on his face and he ends up crying …. his eyes !!!

   ^:)^^:)^^:)^^:)^

   The only other actor i could think of carry of that scene was perhaps kamal…

3. vasanbala on January 10th, 2007 2:17 am

   thats Iruvar for me……..if i can come up with 3 gems…..you come up with another…each having it’s own space…..

   Waiting for the New Sholay…..waiting for Mohanlal

4. Ranjit on January 10th, 2007 6:41 am

   Wow…a Mohanlal post…I can see this is one comment that’s gonna end up being longer than the post (sorry !!!). Am not limiting myself to Iruvar here, since I’ve literally grown up seeing his movies. My favorite Mohanlal moments:

   Iruvar (The Duo): Apart from the ones mentioned above, there’s a scene where he’s the CM, and is accused of corruption by one of the party’s founders. His expression combines several emotions brilliantly - glee at the power he has to just brush aside such accusations, a hint of cruelty, regret at what he has become. Brilliant.

   Sadayam (Mal, With Mercy): I rank this as Mohanlal’s best performance. This is a man who borders on insanity, under severe pressure, liable to ’snap’ anytime. And the scene where he does is downright chilling…when I saw the movie in a theatre, I could almost sense static electricity !!

   Kireedom (Mal, The Crown): The original of ‘Gardish’. The climax, where he’s killed the villain and is lunging at anyone who even makes a move toward him. His eyes…they are desperate, like a cornered animal’s. And then his father arrives and pleads with him to stop, and the madness slowly leaves his eyes…How do you describe this? First of his National Awards.

   Vaanaprastham (Mal, Pilgrimage / Last Dance): Another National Award, richly deserved. He plays a Kathakali artist. There’s this scene where he plays Poothana (the demoness who tries to kill Krishna). Female getups in Kathakali are laborious, believe me. When Mohanlal played Poothana, even his gestures were so effeminate and graceful. And the scene where Poothana dies is just brilliant cinema.

   Chenkol (Mal, The Staff). Sequel to the above-mentioned ‘Kireedom’. The character (Sethu) has been beat up, kicked out of his own house and has had a knife stuck in his back, for no fault of his. He looks at himself in the mirror, and hardens himself, resolves never to be a doormat for anyone again, to hit others before they can hit back. However, his eyes and voice are tinged with regret..for a minute, he lets the old Sethu creep though, before steeling his mind once again. This was an unrecognized, oft-berated movie (for its violence), that featured a getm of a performance.

   Just the tip of the iceberg..have work to get to :(.

5. Vijay on January 10th, 2007 6:59 am

   Also, don’t forget Manichitratazhu, which was re-made as Chandramukhi with Rajinikant.

   In Manichitratazhu, Mohanlal only walks into the movie just before the intermission, but what an entry! What a performance!

6. Vasanbala on January 10th, 2007 7:59 am

   Ranjeet: awesome. though a fan of mohanlal ihave not seen many of his films…i would like to know more….please do as and when you find time…just watching “Siraichalai” [Tamil- Saza-e-Kakapani]…..

7. Ranjit on January 10th, 2007 9:00 am

   Typed in a lit, and when i submitted the site went down :(( !!

   Some of my favorites:

   The ones mentioned earlier - Iruvar, Vaanaprastham, Kireedom, Chenkol, Sadayam

   Thoovana Thumbikal (Butterflies in the Rain): Malayalam classic, by the late Padmarajan. The best love triangle I have ever seen. Was shot in my hometown, Thrissur !!

   Bharatham: won a National Award for this one. Played a Carnatic singer. Shabana Azmi, who played one in the flawed ‘Morning Raaga’, was in awe at Mohanlal’s work here.

   Nadodikattu (Nomad Breeze): Classic Malayalam comedy, exploited Mohanlal’s considerable flair for comedy to the core.

   Varavelpu (The Welcome): Societal satire, also depicted the hardships of people who returned from the Gulf. Mohanlal is just brilliant in it.

   Kamaladalom (Lotus Petal): Mohanlal’s ode to Kamal Hassan’s ‘Sagara Sangamam’.

   Thanmatra (Molecule): The latest in a long chain of great performances. Mohanlal played the role of an ordinary man afflicted with Alzheimers. Features great all-round performances.

   Namukku Parkkan Munthiri Thoppukal (Vinyards for Us to Dwell): Directed by Padmarajan once again, this is a dark movie with an aura of foreboding all the while.

   Thazhvaram (Valley): The best curry western I have seen in Indian cinema. Mohanlal and Salium Ghous (of ‘Fauji’ fame) play the protagonist and antagonist respectively. Directed by the late Bharatan, whose most famous work to non South-Indians is perhaps ‘Thevar Magan’, the original of Viraasat.

   Manichitrathazhu (The Holy Lock): Remade in Tamil as ‘Chandramkuhi’. After the inital laughs, the movie settles down into an eerie tale, with Mohanlal (in a much-adored cameo) acting as the catalyst to push the story forward.

   Devasuram (Half-God, Half-Demon): Mohanla essays the role of an arrogant, feudal Malayalee to perfection. ‘Aaram Thamburan’ (The Sixth Lord) is essentially a masala remix of this movie.

   Ulladakkom (Content): Mohanlal plays a psychiatrist to Amala. Great movie.

   Thalavattom (Revolution): Mohanlal played the role of the irreprehensible, lovable madman with such ease that Priyadarsan had to remake this in Hindi with Salman Khan (’Kyun Ki’) to show us how hackneyed the plot was, and that it was actually quite a tough role.

   Its actually quite tough to compile a best-of list, because Mohanlal’s been working for over 25 years - and this includes the 80s, when Malayalam cinema was at its zenith. any list is quite personal and subjective, of course.

8. Gattu on January 10th, 2007 9:10 am

   Truly Mohanlal is a great actor, but in recent times the directors have failed to tap his potential They just try to cash on his star aura without really thinking about the characters he can potray. Only exception being Thanmatra directed by Blessy

9. wb on January 10th, 2007 6:08 pm

   // Vasan - I haven’t watched Iruvar. However I know of another actor who emoted with his back to the camera… Girish Karnad! In the Telugu movie Ananda Bhairavi.

10. Nair on January 11th, 2007 6:43 am

    All along when reading all the posts/comments on talented actors I really wanted to tell you all to watch Mohanlal films but unfortunately hardly any subtitled DVDs are available for Malayalam films. Some more of his films …

    Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam
    Pattana Pravesham
    Kilukkam
    Poochakkoru Mookkuthi
    Vellanakalude Naadu
    TP Balagopalan MA
    Gandhinagar Second Street
    Mukundetta Sumithra Vilikkunnu
    Chitram
    Balettan
    His Highness Abdullah
    Spadikam
    Pavitram
    Abhimanyu

11. Muzzy on January 11th, 2007 7:27 am

    I’m not Malaylee nor can I understand Malayalam. I was fortunate to have couple of close Malayalee friends who introduced me to Mohanlal, Mamooty, Revathi Innacent + more.

    My favorite Mohanlal scene has been from Kiridum where he sees his father (havaldar) geetting beaten up by a local goon. Hi expression was of utmost horror & despise to the goon. Worth wathing the movie again just for that scene.

    After both of them moved to other countries, I cant watch any Malayalee movie on my own as they dont dont have subtitles.

    Hope someday Malayalm cinema will realise what good movies they make and start marketing to wider audience than the Malayalam speaking ppl.

12. Vasanbala on January 11th, 2007 8:27 am

    thanksNair….that list would be really helpful…..thanks

13. susan on January 16th, 2007 1:24 pm

    The scene in “Iruvar” where he falls on Pushpa’s grave and tries to claw his way through made me cry.

14. Arun Sankar on January 19th, 2007 12:42 am

    Hi my dear frnds,
    I just came to add up to the Nair’s list of Lal’s performances. You must definitely watch “Thanmathra” in which he plays an Alzheimers patient. For non-malayali friends, you will just know whats happening behind de scenes, even without subtitles, with Lal’s performance. I can tell you lots of scenes in that movie. In ascending order of its severity

    Scene 1: The scene in which he searches for the paper cuttings he had collected for his son. In that when he is not able to remember, where he has put it, theres a scene where he bites his on hands desperately. WHAT A PERFORMANCE. Even a hard rock heart will cry looking at that

    Scene 2: Near the climax, at some scene, he suddenly gets some of his memory and make a smile at his wife, when she says that their son had went fior IAS interview. Great great and great !!!

    I can assure you that, you’ll fin the movie one of the finest from lal.

15. Omkar Panicker on January 19th, 2007 1:15 am

    Hi everyone,
    Mohanlal has been in the industry for more than 2 decades. So there are innumerous films and scenes which are just mesmerising.

    Two of the less noticed films (which deserved more appreciation from the jury) include ‘Padamudra’ and’Dasharatham’.

    I’ll just depict a scene from each of these films which makes him the best actor of India.

    Padamudra-
    In a devotional song of the film, he sings like a true devotee for the first 2 paragraphs. Suddenly with the appearance of the actress(Seema) he changes his mood and sings with a lascivious smile. The sudden transformation is simply ‘AMAZING’.

    Dasharatham-
    Anyone who has seen this film would remember the final scene of this film where he blurts out to a lady(Sukumari) whether she could love him as her son. Here he portrays ‘Rajiv Menon’ a wealthy orphan who believed that money is everything and women are just objects of lust. He realises his folly by the end of the film.

16. Pritish on February 9th, 2007 4:37 am

    How can one forget his performance in Padamudra.. I think Mohanlal is one actor who has never got his due recognition.

    No Indian actor can Mtach Lal’s performaces between 1986 to 2000.

17. Ajoy on February 21st, 2007 3:20 am

    I don’t agree with Pritish on the timeline…I think he has some great movies like Company and Tanmatra post 2000 which has some inimitable performance from Mohanlal. I am expecting the same to continue in 2007 with Pardesi, Aakashgopuram, Sholay and the movie with Adoor.

18. Aparna J on March 3rd, 2007 6:51 am

    I don’t know whether my love for Mohanlal is because I am a Malayalee, for I certainly am not a homegrown one… It is probably because the man is a magician. If there must be one Indian “Superstar” (I would prefer to say “Actor”)it has to be Mohanlal and not Amitabh Bachchan, as Sudhir Mishra said at a media college festival recently. I would have to agree. The only reason he is not awarded that status it is because he is deglam and understated, and he will not be seen shamelessly flashing his 32 behind every conceivable object you can buy.
    Having said that, I must admit that I’m a huge AB fan as well, but there is only room for one at the top… and that would have to be Mohanlal.
    I saw Iruvar recently at the Kala Ghoda Festival. Even though I haven’t seen too many MGR films, I was mesmerised by the way Mohanlal was perhaps a more convincing MGR than MGR himself. Check out the music video of ‘Aayarathil Nyan Oruvan’ on youtube for proof.

    The man is truly a genius.

    Does anyone remember the name of the film in which he plays a dark, disturbed dance teacher?

19. Vince on March 5th, 2007 6:33 pm

    wow…. what a great article. If there is a GOD in movies then it is MOHAN LAL. I haven’t seen anyone in the world that can match up to his talents. Iruvar, Devasuram, Kireedam… Kamaladalam (Aparna, this is the one you are looking for), Bharatham, vaana prastham, Dasaratham… The list will never end.

20. Ranjit on March 5th, 2007 8:09 pm

    Aparna, the movie you mentioned in ‘Kamaladalom’ - ode to Kamal Hassan’s ‘Sagara Sangamam’ in some ways, but perhaps more remarkable because Lal, unlike Kamal, has never learnt any form of classical dancing (except for the movies). Of course, this is part of what makes even ‘Vaanaprastham’ such a great movie too.

21. rahul P on March 30th, 2007 10:30 am

    sorry to inform u all that u havent mentioned lals role in the film’pavithram’.the climax seen where lal turns abnormal due to rejection from his sister is very touchy.

22. vinod on April 21st, 2007 1:39 am

    Hi guys,
    don,t forget ‘UYARANGALIL’, ‘AMRUTHAMGAMAYA’, ‘NAMUKKU PARKKAN MUNTHIRI THOPPUKAL’:)>-:)>-:)>-

23. Justin John on April 22nd, 2007 4:45 am

    “Toovana Tumbikal” is really one of the best love triangles in world cinema. As always Mohanlal’s acting was great. Padmarajan is a great story teller. Another love triangle film I loved was again Padmarajan’s “Innale”.

24. rithu on July 25th, 2007 1:46 pm

    hi i saw mohanlal movie nadodikkattu. watch this scene when mohanlal got to other house and asking for rice and kerosene. i cant understand the dialogue. im not a keralite. carefully watch the eyes of mohanlal in this scene. i only read the titles. but i understood his innocence from his eyes . i can’t find anybody like this type of acting. i have only seen a few movies of him. but iam sure he is a superb actor.
    rithu vistar
    orissa

25. Aromal on August 4th, 2007 11:01 am

    wow

26. John P John on October 15th, 2007 2:00 pm

    How about Rajavintae Makan. There is no one who could deliver dialogues like him. Powerful screen image, Versatile and Fliexible. From Comedy to Serious Roles who could hanndle it so Genuinely.
    I have never seen a Genuine actor like Mohanlal who lives the character.
    He is a big asset to the Film world.

    From the Time Magazine about Lal: ” He is India’s Answer to Marlon Brando”

    For Big B, He is the finest actor in the country.For Ram Gopal Varma, He is the Robert De Niro of Indian Screen.For TIME magazine, He is India’s answer to Marlon Brando. For Sunil Shetty, He is the God of Cinema.For Kamal Haasan, He is the most flexible actor in India.For Shaji N Karun, He is the most immensely talented actor.For Priyadarshan, He is the best actor India has ever produced.Manirathnam and Dr.Rajkumar are two frontline fans of this great actor.

27. anoop on October 16th, 2007 1:36 am

    a timely message john just when lal’s buddy priyan has remade manichitrathazhu…many of lal’s best movies were remade in other languages but failed to live upto the original..there is something about this man that makes him so great..its extremely sad that off-late we havent seen him in his best..no one is able to do justice to his talent…what do u say…

28. harsh on November 7th, 2007 5:29 pm

    Truly great actor. only one cinema i saw. it was 6 thampuran great film. great fight. main feature of this artist is his eyes.

    harsh lucknow

29. Priya on November 7th, 2007 8:50 pm

    LAL is BRILLIANT TO SAY THE LEAST. but mal cinema(not the same be said of the current generation) has this uncanny ability to bring out great actors, from jagathy, murali, nadamudi venu,kpc lalita, urvasi, sarada,sreenivasan, mamooty, list can go on…narain from the current lot seems interesting and promising

30. joe john on December 11th, 2007 1:20 pm

    I think u guys forgot to say Sphadikam…

31. raj07 on December 15th, 2007 3:24 pm

    Initially i was a fan of kamal hasan and mamooty and so many actors like that of the western type.
    see they are all of the similar category. They do preparations/research before acting.

    Now of late i consider Mohan lal “one of a kind actor”

    I dont know there were/are actors of his kind in world cinema(spontaneous acting).I have seen three movies of brando. I dont think he had that much scope to act( waterfront,god father,last tango)mohan lal makes me think that actors are not made but are born.

    Ranjit, I understand you see world cinema.Want to be a buddy of urs to discuss abt acting.
    My e-mail. Rajnair7@gmail.com

    PS: Mohan lal is the favourite actor of max directors: mani ratnam, priya darshan, sathyan anthikad etc

32. jenny on January 11th, 2008 2:21 pm

    hi im from philiphines and i saw only three film of this actor. movie name is yodha. the rest i don’t remember. i like his cheeks. good expression. most cute is his eyes.
    with love
    jenny

33. arun on January 16th, 2008 2:30 pm

    rajavainte makan the only film after running more than 100 days then again came after 5 years again ran more than 50 days

34. raghav on March 2nd, 2008 5:00 pm

    truly great actor with great timing. but nowadays he is not upto his potential. I think he is not concentrating on his acting now. i think only 50% of mohanlal’s capabilities is used. Only great directors like padmarajan, bharathan can exploit his talent. but they are no more. i wonder how he remains the most fav actor at present. mohanlal’s eyes tells stories. in the whole song moovanthiyayi..in ‘pakshe’ he is thinking. but we feel what he is thinking. its because of the unbeleivable movement of his eyes. also
    in manichitrathazhu we can see the magic eyes.

35. Anup on March 12th, 2008 6:20 pm

    I am a Keralite Malayalee who grew up outside the South, though we retain our roots there, and used to spend one to one and a half months every Summer back home.

    To me, Mohanlal is truly the greatest Movie actor in the purest sense that India has ever produced, above even Kamal, Mammooty, Dilip Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar and AB, who I think are the others among the six finest Indian actors that I have seen (Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi and Bengali being the languages that I have watched movies in).

    I think though he has done so many beautiful movies with matchless performances, his best ones are HH Abdullah, Kilukkam, Manichitrathazhu, and Yatramozhi, with the great Sivaji which I think was the most touching Father-Son movie ever.

    John, thanks for that passage - it felt great to read what other greats think of the greatest. We are all lucky to have lived in a era of Indian Cinema when this man was at the peak of his powers. Hope he has a long life full of joys and that he continues to make us happy too.

36. rahul on March 24th, 2008 3:54 pm

    at present there is no director to handle mohanlal. they are not using the skills of this actor. i think now he is showing 1% of his acting. now the films like vamanapuram bus route, hariharan pilla, college kumaran, mahasamudram, is some of the worst movies in malayalam cinema. i don’t know why he is acting in these type of movies. we don’t beleive it is the same actor who acted in namukku parkkan, thoovanathumbi, thazhvaram, kireedom, devasuram and sphadikam.
    the main talent of the artist is his timing. you can see this in various movies. by carefully watching some of his movies we can see the expressions coming on his face. for example you can watch nadodikattu and sanmanasullavarkku samadanam. most of the scenes are long shot losely watch scene by scene you can see the movement of the eyes of this artist really it is shaking left to right. thats a magic!
    thank you
    rahul

37. Pritish on March 24th, 2008 10:26 pm

    Very True Rahul. Lal has lost his it completely. No body with a sane mind would have done Collge Kumaran. The main reason is that Mohanlal is picking characters which are meant for Prithviraj,Dileep & other lesser actors. I think Lal should start playing characters which suit his age. Then we will be able to see the magic once again.I am sure in another 5 years Lal will come back to his own..

38. Shahir on March 27th, 2008 8:26 pm

    namukku parkkaan……. by padmarajan is a great movie. the casting is super. we can’t thing other actors doing the roles instead of them. mohanlal is great in this movie. but now he is not a good actor. because there is no padmarajan now. amrutham gamaya was also a great movie. i don’t know how many people saw that movie. effortless acting by lal. this movie shows the versatality of lal. it is better to stop his acting now. otherwise new directors should come who know to exploit the curious eyes and vivid mannerisms of lal.

39. monu on May 7th, 2008 7:13 pm

    now he is graph is low but certainly he will come back veratlie artist. there is no need of lal in innathe chintha vishayam. without him the movie is good. it is too much boring when lal starts his advices. don’t believe the same actor who is in the wonderful movie sanmanassullavarkku samadanam

40. jyothish on May 21st, 2008 1:44 pm

    u people write all pecularities about my dear brother lalettan…what i say now..nothing to say right now…he is great for ever…after satyn master he is the only one as a perfect actor in india

41. jyothish on May 21st, 2008 1:44 pm

    i love u laletta…thrissur peopls with u always…

42. sooraj on August 26th, 2008 8:36 am

    hi,
    I think he is back again with the magical eyes. yes it is the tru lalettan in madambi. great actin. great dialogue delivery. super duper hit.

43. saran on October 4th, 2008 12:05 am

    lal’s acting in akasagopuram is superb

44. Rakesh on October 5th, 2008 2:28 am

    MY DEAR FRIENDS,

    AM SAD NOW? I CANT THINK OF A CINEMA INDUSTRY WITHOUT LALETTAN. MOHANLAL HAS BEEN IN THE INDUSTRY FOR THE LAST 30 YEARS. BUT THE INDUSTRY COULD NOT PRODUCE A REPLACEMENT FOR OUR GR8 UNIVERSAL STAR PADHMASHREE BHARATH MOHANLAL. WATCH THE MOVIES IN SEQUENCE.

    1. BOEING BOEING

    2. RAJAVINTE MAKAN

    3. SARVAKALASALA

    4. GANDHI NAGAR 2ND STREET

    5. IRUPATHAM NOOTANDU

    6. PADAMUDRA

    7. BUTTERFLIES

    8. NADODIKATTU

    9. SADAYAM

    10. AARYAN

    11. UYARUM NJAN NADAKE

    12. UYARANGALIL

    13. ULLADAKKAM

    15. SPHADIKAM

    16. THENMAVIN KOMBATHU

    17. THALAVATTAM

    18. MANICHITHRA THAZHU

    19. VANAPRASTHAM.

    20. KIREEDAM

    21. CHITHRAM

    22. UDAYANANU THARAM

    OH GOD….I CANT CONCLUDE…..A LOT ARE DER IN THE LISTS…

    FROM THE ABOVE FILMS, ONE CAN UNDERSTAND MOHANLAL’S RANGE OF ACTING.

    HE IS SIMPLY SUPERB!

    I WOULD SAY, IN INDIA, WE HAVE LOT OF SUPER STARS

    BUT WE HAVE ONLY ONE SUPER ACTOR + SUPER STAR THAT IS OUR ONE AND ONLY MOHANLAL OR LALETTAN..

    LOVINGLY RAKESH

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