Mohanlal - Life in pictures: Celebrating The Complete Actor on his birthday

A beautiful human being, a film enthusiast, a film student, and an actor par excellence, Mohanlal is celebrating his 60th birthday today. Beginning his career with the 1978 movie ‘Thiranottam’, produced by him and his friends including Maniyanpilla Raju and Priyadarshan to shelving the debut and later rising as one of the biggest stars M-Town has ever had, Mohanlal’s journey in showbiz is spectacular.

As the legendary actor is celebrating his 60th birthday today, here’s a tour through his magnificent life on and off celluloid through pictures.

A still from Mohanlal’s debut ‘Thiranottam’. The 1978 movie was bankrolled by the actor along with other friends like Maniyan Pilla Raju, Suresh Kumar, Unni, Priyadarshan, Ravi Kumar. Mohanlal essayed the role of Kuttappan, a mentally challenged servant. Despite all the hard work, the movie only fetched a single theatre to screen. It reached a wider audience only after 25 years.

A still from Mohanlal's second movie 'Manjil Virinja Pookkal'. Malayalam cinema introduced Mohanlal to the audience with the dialogue “Good evening Ms. Prabha Narendran”. The dialogue from the movie still rules hearts. Mohanlal who made his debut with ‘Thiranottam’ came to know about an audition being conducted by Navodaya Appachan and decided to show up. Fazil’s directorial ‘Manjil Virinja Pookkal’ needed a fresh face to play the antagonist and Mohanlal’s performance impressed them!

A still from the 1983 movie 'Aattakalasam', where Mohanlal shared screen space with veteran actor the late Prem Nazir. Mohanlal essayed Babu, the brother of Prem Nazir's character Balachandran. The movie also paved the way for stardom to Mohanlal.

A still from Bharathan’s 1983 directorial ‘Kattathe Kilikoodu’. Mohanlal is seen sharing screen space with the late actress Srividya. Mohanlal essayed the role of an athletics coach in college.

A shot from the same movie ‘Kattathe Kilikoodu’.

A still from the 1986 movie ‘Namukku Parkkan Munthiri Thoppukal’. The actor is seen with his onscreen heroine Shari. The actor essayed Solomon in the film. The Padmarajan directorial was a romantic drama and is still discussed amongst movie buffs.

Mohanlal with filmmaker Priyadarshan. The star's collaboration with filmmakers like IV Sadi, Bharathan, Fazil, Sathyan Anthikkad, and Priyadarshan added to his popularity and thereby guided the actor to his superstardom.

A still from the 1997 movie 'Oru Yathramozhi'. Mohanlal shared the screen with ace actor Shivaji Ganeshan.

Mohanlal along with director Major Ravi and actor Amitabh Bachchan during the promotion of the 2010 film 'Kandahar'. The actor was seen in the war film along with Hindi film industry’s Big B.

Beginning his career as an anti-hero and later claiming a place as an evergreen hero, Mohanlal has been entertaining film lovers for the past four decades. The two times National award-winning actor continues to rule hearts.

(Image courtesy: Facebook)