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Everyman's star
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Oozing stardom in every gesture and word isn't Mohan Lal's style
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ENDURING HERO In his best roles Mohan Lal breathes life into a common man's struggles PHOTO: V. SREENIVASA MURTHY
Chasing a celebrity for a sound bite isn't a particularly elevating experience. But Mohan Lal can lend some dignity to even such an exercise. The enduring superstar of Malayalam cinema who has also won tremendous critical acclaim — after all, Priyadarshan rates him "the best actor in the world" and Mani Ratnam calls him "the most natural actor in India" — carries with him an endearing reticence you rarely associate with a celebrity. Refreshingly, he seems least inclined to pack the three precious minutes he grants you with "quotable quotes".
Time may be money for any star, but Lal sure doesn't make it all too obvious. Many love him, as one of his fans put it, for the way he portrays "our kind of struggles, our kinds of anguish" in the best of his roles. And the same non-starriness strikes as you talk to him. If you didn't know that he has moved on to become a big-time producer and an hotelier, you might even take this for a lack of big ambitions.
Ask him why he hasn't really looked beyond his own home turf to establish himself as a "national hero", and he smiles quietly. He did a supporting role in Company — winning a national award for it — and produced and acted in Kaala Pani. But then not quite in the league of some Southern Stars who have moved heaven and earth to make a mark in Bollywood. "I am really more comfortable in my own language." He adds, after a pause: "It's no doubt a bigger audience and a bigger reach... But there should be some kind of a purpose, no? It should be an irresistible role." Like there was when he agreed to play the lead role in Karnabharam, a National School of Drama production in Sanskrit, a language he confesses to not knowing a syllable of.
Beyond catchphrases
But then what kind of "challenge" eggs him on to do product endorsements? He smiles again. "I am paid for it, no doubt!" Yes, he is aware that catchphrases like "Believe in the best" or "Purity and sincerity" are all nothing but just that — catchphrases. But he does a bit of looking around before he agrees to endorse a product.
"I do know that this jewellery group (whose products Mohanlal endorses) ensures good quality and does some charity work also."
But think gold and we think dowry, show and pomp... don't we? "If I hadn't done it, someone else would have done it," he smiles apologetically as he gets up to leave. "Sorry, I have someone waiting for me."
Even as he walks away in surprisingly long strides (with his manager hurrying to keep pace) he turns back to say: "It's always women who have done jewellery ads. That's what makes it a change, a challenge for me."
BAGESHREE S.
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