Happy Birthday Mohanlal Viswanathan, iconic Malayalam actor, producer and playback singer, born on May 21, 1960, in the village of Elanthoor, Kerala. Working mostly in Malayalam cinema, Mohanlal, known as The Complete Actor, is considered one of India’s top actors ever. He has appeared in more than 340 films in four decades. Mohanlal made his acting debut in ‘Thiranottam’ (1978)., playing a mentally disabled servant. He was 18 at the time and the film was made him and his friends. However, the film was not released for 25 years because of censorship. His first released film was ‘Manjil Virinja Pookkal (1978) where he played the villain. He continued playing villains and supporting roles into the 1980s. In 1984, Mohanlal made the transition to a good hero with the crime thriller ‘Ivide Thudangunnu’, a major milestone in his career. He played his first comic role in ‘Poochakkoru Mookkuthi’ (1984), a screwball comedy directed by Priyadarshan. The film was a success and triggered many Malayalam screwball comedies. Priyadarshan directed Mohanlal in 44 other movies. But 1986 was the year Mohanlal became a superstar. In this year alone he appeared in a remarkable 36 Malayalam films. In ‘T.P. Balagopalan M.A.’, Mohanlal won his first Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor, as a young unemployed man. In ‘Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam’, he won a Filmfare Award for Best Actor (Malayalam) as a harassed homeowner. He was an underworld don in ‘Rajavinte Makan’, and a mentally ill lover in Thalavattom. Many of his films were ahead of their times and broke stereotypes. In 1988, ‘Chithram’, a romantic comedy, become the longest running Malayalam film at 366 days. In the early 1990s, Mohanlal had many commercial hits and got into production as Pranavam Arts International. ‘Kilukkam’ made in 1991 is considered one of the greatest comedies of Malayalam cinema and was the highest-grossing film of that time. He also starred and produced ‘Bharatham’. As a Carnatic singer he earned the National Film Award for Best Actor. Forbes India listed the performance among the “25 Greatest Acting Performances of Indian Cinema”. He was a Bharatanatyam dancer in ‘Kamaladalam’ (1992). Other notable films of the 1990s are: ‘Devaasuram’ (1993), ‘Manichitrathazhu’ (1994), ‘Spadikam’ (1995), ‘Guru’ (1997), Mani Ratnam’s ‘Iruvar’ (1997), and ‘Vanaprastham’ (1999). In 2002, Mohanlal made his Bollywood debut in the underworld crime story ‘Company’. In 2005, he won praise as an Alzheimer’s patient in ‘Thanmathra’. Some other successful Mohanlal movies are: ‘Kirtichakra’ (2006),’Paradesi’ (2007), ‘Hallo’ (2007), ‘Christian Brothers’ (2011), all-time blockbuster ‘ Drishyam’ (2013), ‘Jilla’ (2014) with Vijay, ‘Oppam’ (2016), ‘Pulimurugan’ (2016) and ‘Lucifer’(2019). Mohanlal was last seen in ‘Drishyam 2’(2021), sequel to ‘Drishyam’, a murder mystery. Mohanlal is the recipient of both the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan.