A castle of his own
RANA SIDDIQUI ZAMAN
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Mohanlal on ‘Akasha Gopuram’ releasing today.
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My character has various layers. Each of the scenes, movements and dialogues reveals him.
PHOTO: R. V. MOORTHY.
A SIMPLE MAN: Mohanlal says he doesn’t keep track of Hindi films but admires quite a few actors.
Think of the stature of an actor for whom a National Award winning director like K.P. Kumaran was willing to wait for 15 years, on his own admission, to make a film. This actor is Mohanlal. Fifteen years can be a dangerously long time in the film
industry. But, says Kumaran, Mohanlal “needed the maturity of the age required for the role.”
He is talking of ‘Akasha Gopuram,’ a Malayalam film with English subtitles, releasing today. Also starring (the late) Bharat Gopi, Shewta Menon and a newcomer Nithya, the film is making news for several reasons.
Adaptation of Ibsen’s play
It is an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s famous play ‘The Master Builder’ and it has assembled the best of talent from Hollywood and the United Kingdom, and Tamil and Malayalam film industries. The film is about Albert Samson who becomes a top architect with the help of his mentor (played by Bharat Gopi). Saddled with personal problems, he is perennially scared of the younger generation overtaking him and hence he doesn’t let them out of his shadow.
Mohanlal, admitting that the play has been changed marginally to “contemporise it without touching the soul,” says: “My character has various layers. Each of the scenes, movements and dialogues reveals him. He is a dedicated, genuine person who indulges in lust, sex, treachery, greed and jealousy to reach the top of his profession. Yet, we cannot say that he has only grey shades. He tries justify to his nature by saying that he used to make churches and dedicate those to God, and yet his two children were burnt alive and his wife fell ill, and so on.”
Mohanlal is revered by his admirers as the one who has been able to maintain his larger-than-life image on the big screen. “
It’s not that,” he interrupts. “I had that image only in a few films like ‘Sphadikam’, ‘Devasuram’ or ‘Ravanaprabhu.’ Actually the image persists because others start copying your dress, hairstyle and dialogues. But they fail to understand that it’s not the costume that makes a great film or an actor but the depth of a film or its script. When all such ‘copying ’ fails to impress, that image gets a further boost and then, it is taken as a sort of masterpiece,” he says.
That the Indian film industry has now focussed more on ‘looks’ does not bother him either.
“They say South Indian heroes are now imitating the Hindi film ‘look.’ I don’t mind that. If you don’t flow with the current, you are out. I have never tried to look like a ‘boy’ and I am happy about it,” he laughs.
Remake of ‘Sholay’
Moving on to his role in Ram Gopal Verma’s remake of ‘Sholay,’ he explains, “I didn’t do it because I was given to play Sanjeev Kumar’s role or because the film was a super hit. I did that because I admire RGV’s sense of filmmaking. He is extremely knowledgeable and technically sound. If he has made a few films that didn’t do well, it doesn’t mean he has forgotten his craft!”
The veteran of several State and National Awards has no intention of doing Hindi films for now. “There should an irresistible offer,” he quips.
His production house is now making ‘Sagar Alias Jacky,’ a remake of ‘Irupatthiyonnaam Noottandu,’ a Malayalam movie. “It’s the story of a Robin Hood-like character,” he concludes smiling, as he parries a question on 33 more films in his kitty.
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