Mohanlal Viswanathan Nair (born 21 May 1960),[1] better known as Mohanlal, is an

Indian actor, producer and occasional singer best known for his work in Malayal
am films.
Mohanlal made his acting debut in Thiranottam (1978), but the film got released
only after 25 years due to censorship issues.[3] His first film to be released w
as Manjil Virinja Pookkal (1980) in which he acted as the antagonist. His major
commercial success of Rajavinte Makan (1986) which is widely considered as a cul
t classic in action movie genre.[4][5] In a career spanning over three decades,
Mohanlal has acted in over 300 Malayalam films in various genres. Mohanlal has a
lso acted in Bollywood, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. Of these, his notable r
oles were in Iruvar (1997), directed by Mani Ratnam, and Company (2002), directe
d by Ram Gopal Varma.[6]
He was listed among 25 greatest acting performance of Indian cinema by Forbes on
occasion of celebrating 100 years of Indian Cinema.[7]Mohanlal was elected as t
he most popular Keralite in an online poll conducted by CNN-IBN in 2006 on the o
ccasion of the 50th anniversary of Kerala's formation.[8] In 2001, the Governmen
t of India honoured him with the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian hon
our, for his contributions towards Indian cinema.[9] He has won four Indian Nati
onal Film Awards
two Best Actor Awards, one Special Jury Award, and one Award fo
r Best Film as producer; along with six Kerala State Film Awards for Best Actor
and eight Filmfare Awards for Best Actor. In 2009, he became the first and the o
nly actor to receive the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Territorial
Army of India[10] and in 2010 he received an honorary doctorate from Sree Sankar
acharya University of Sanskrit, Kerala.[11]