Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

Bold themes, different roles

SARASWATHY NAGARAJAN

After a lull, Mohanlal is on the ascent again with a slew of films.

PHOTO: S. MAHINSHA

KICK-OFF: Mohanlal tossing the ball while I.M.Vijayan, extreme left, looks on during the shooting of `Mahasamudram.'

Dressed in the green and yellow colours of Brazil and dribbling a football, Mohanlal looks every inch the footballer. But then the ability to merge with his character has always been one of the many plus points of this multi-faceted actor.

Here in Thiruvananthapuram for the shoot of `Mahasamudram,' Mohanlal is also completing the dubbing for the bi-lingual (Malayalam and Tamil) `Keerti Chakra,' in which he plays a major (Javed Hussain) posted in Kashmir. After a slump that saw some of his films crash at the box office, Mohanlal is on the ascent again. He has signed a slew of films and each one promises to reveal a new facet of the actor. If he plays a photographer Sijo John in Renjan Pramod's debut film `Photographer,' he plays an 85-year-old in P.T. Kunjumohamed's `Pardesi,' and the lead in K.P. Kumaran's `Akashagopuram,' which is an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's play `Master Builder.'

`Tanmathra' and a State award for the best actor, his fifth, seems to have revived the actor in him. The success of `Rasanthantram' and `Vadakumnadhan' proves that Mohanlal is back in business.

That he is adept at multi-tasking becomes clear as he settles down for an interview while the shooting is in progress. After each shot, Mohanlal effortlessly picks up from where he had left to speak on his new films, heroines and directors.

Will the World Cup beginning today find you before the television?

I used to play football in school and college and I used to follow the game as a student. But now there isn't time enough time to watch a match. But I certainly enjoy the game.

Does the down-to-earth role of the carpenter Premachandran Asari in `Rasanthantram' signify that Mohanlal has bid adieu to the super-hero roles?

It is not as if I was doing only the role of the superhero. There were others too and they were all made by top directors. It was unfortunate that those films did not do well commercially. But the success of a film should not be judged by the commercial success or failure of a film alone. Moreover, every role has an element of make-belief in it.

What then was the problem?

The main lacuna was weak scripts. I see that period as a cleansing period in the film industry. Now there are more daring themes and topics being taken up. `Keerti Chakra' is an example. I play a major in the Indian army. It was an experience that enhanced my respect for the Indian soldier. Even while we were there, there were nine blasts. No one knows what will happen next.

So, are you deliberately choosing roles that are very different?

There is no planning. The roles keep coming. As far as roles are concerned, actors are beggars; they cannot afford to choose. It is not as if I ever planned on doing the movie version of Ibsen's play. Now, directors are willing to experiment and are coming up with new themes. For instance, `Pardesi' is about the trauma of a man who is caught between two countries, both of which refuse to accept him as its citizen. It is a universal theme and a bold venture and even the cinematic approach will be an innovation as the director plans to change the structure of narration and so on. `Photographer' is set against the backdrop of the Adivasi agitation at Muthanga. In `Mahasamudran' I am Ishak, a fisherman.

Is there any preparation for doing these roles?

No. I do not believe in method acting or planning each move and dialogue. I enact the character and give it my best and hope that it does justice to the role. The situation and the storyline guide me. Perhaps, I am a director's actor.

Your movies with Priyadarshan are a hit. Is it because of the warm vibes you share with him? Both of you made your debut in movies at the same time with `Thiranottam.'

I have an excellent rapport with all my directors and co-stars. But yes, Priyan and I have made a number of hits. Most of them have been remade in Hindi. `Garam Masala,' for instance, is a remake of `Boeing Boeing.' But now, we do not have any projects together. Perhaps in two years time, we might work together again.

You have acted with some of the best actors in Malayalam. As many of them have graduated to playing the role of the `mother,' is there a dearth of heroines in the Malayalam film industry? For instance, Revathy was your first heroine.

(Laughs) Revathy was a schoolgirl when we did our first film together (`Katathekillikoodu') 24 years ago. But look at the kind of roles she got. She was able to tap her potential as an actor to the fullest. Sadly, those kind of roles are fewer now. However, it is true that the life span of female actors is short. Earlier, actors like Sheela, Sharada and Jayabharati did play college girls and a wide range of roles for some time. But now, the audience are not willing to accept that. But we have capable heroines like Meera Jasmine who can carry a film on her own. Prior to that there was Manju Warrier. I don't think there will be a dearth of heroines.

Amitabh Bachchan remarked that you are a `fantastic actor' and that it is a pity that you are confined to the South.

He is one of the greatest stars in India and someone all of us look up to. Naturally, his praise is something to cherish. As for working in Bollywood, well, I am very comfortable in Malayalam and Tamil. But if there are roles that I feel I can do justice to, then I shall certainly accept films in Hindi. Ram Gopal Varma's `Company' was one such movie.

(He won an IIFA award for the best supporting actor for `Company').

You are acting with Bachchan in Ram Gopal Varma's `Sholay.'

It is in the pipeline. It is a project I am looking forward to.

No plans of directing a film yourself?

No. I will have to stop acting then. It requires tremendous concentration and a completely different set of skills. One has to learn the grammar of filmmaking.

Five State awards, four national awards, Padma Shri... What next?

I live in the present. I believe in taking each day as it comes.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail