Mohanlal is an Indian actor, producer, distributor, host, and playback singer who has starred in mainstream blockbuster and art-house films. He has made over 355 appearances in feature films during the span of his career, primarily in Malayalam cinema and also in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Kannada films. Mohanlal began acting at the age of 18 in a brief role in the then-unreleased film Thiranottam (1978), released a quarter century later. He made his cinematic debut in 1980 as an antagonist in the romantic thriller Manjil Virinja Pookkal. His portrayal of Narendran, a sadistic husband, garnered him recognition and the film developed a cult status. He was thereafter cast in several films as villainous characters. Padayottam (1982), the first Malayalam film shot on 70 mm film featured him in his first protagonistic role. The family drama Aattakalasam established him as a leading actor in Malayalam cinema. In 1984 he starred in the screwball comedy Poochakkoru Mookkuthi, whose success generated a trend and popularised the genre in the 1980s. He played an antihero in Uyarangalil (1984), directed by I. V. Sasi receiving critical acclaim for his performance. In the same year, he co-founded Casino Films, a motion picture production company that later produced his comedy films Gandhinagar 2nd Street (1986) and Nadodikkattu (1987). His first song as a playback singer was "Sindhoora Megham" for Onnanam Kunnil Oradi Kunnil (1985). He starred in 34 films in 1986. His portrayal of T.P. Balagopalan, a lower-scale employee in the comedy-drama T. P. Balagopalan M.A. (1986) earned him the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor becoming the youngest recipient at the age of 26, a record he held until 2006. The same year he co-founded Cheers Films, his second production company. Mohanlal's stardom catapulted with the success of the crime drama Rajavinte Makan (1986). In Irupatham Noottandu (1987), he portrayed mobster Sagar Alias Jacky and has become a cult figure since its release. His tragicomedy Chithram (1988) held the record for the longest continuous run at 58 weeks. In 1989, his performance in Kireedam earned him a Special Jury Mention at the 37th National Film Awards. In 1990, Mohanlal founded his own film production company, Pranavam Arts. It debuted with the musical thriller His Highness Abdullah, garnered critical acclaim and became the year's highest-grossing film. The second film under Pranavam Arts was Bharatham (1991), earned him the National Film Award for Best Actor and Forbes India included it on its list of "25 Greatest Acting Performances in Indian Cinema". His film, the spiritual fantasy, Guru (1997), was the first Malayalam film from India submitted for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 1997, he received critical acclaim for the Tamil film Iruvar, directed by Mani Ratnam. Vanaprastham, which was screened at the Un Certain Regard section of the 1999 Cannes Film Festival, earned him the National Film Awards for Best Actor and Best Film (Producer). In 2000, he starred in the action drama, Narasimham, which became the highest-grossing Malayalam film at the time. His character, Induchoodan has since attracted a cult following. In 2001, he portrayed Karna in the Sanskrit play, Karnabharam, directed by Kavalam Narayana Panicker. In 2003, he won an International Indian Film Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the Hindi film Company. In 2005, he starred in the silent short film Reflections, directed by Bejoy Nambiar. His portrayal of an Alzhiemer patient in Thanmathra (2005) attained critical acclaim and earned him an honorary award from the Indian Medical Association. The Indian Territorial Army bestowed on him the honorary rank of lieutenant colonel for his performance as Major Mahadevan in the war film Keerthi Chakra (2006) and its sequel Kurukshetra (2008). In 2008, he starred in Twenty:20, a landmark film that featured almost all actors in the guild of Malayalam film actors, AMMA. Drishyam (2013), in which he portrayed Georgekutty, an ordinary man, became the highest-grossing Malayalam film of all time. In 2016, he acted in the title role in the action film Pulimurugan which went on to become the highest-grossing Malayalam film ever and was the first Malayalam film to gross over ₹150 crore at the box office. In 2019, he acted in Prithviraj Sukumaran's directorial Lucifer, and the film also became one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films setting several box office records. In 2021, he reprised his role of Georgekutty in the critically acclaimed Drishyam 2, released via Amazon Prime Video. His directorial debut, the 3D film Barroz is in post-production.

Films

Director

Producer

Narrator / voice-over

Theatre

Short films

Television

Radio drama