Many movies made in this period built on Mohanlal's image as an invincible, larger-than-life hero.
Priyadarshan's
Kala Pani, an epic film about the prisoners in
Cellular Jail of
Port Blair and
Lohithadas's
Kanmadam (1998) are among the notable commercial successes in the second half of the decade.Mohanlal's first non-Malayalam movie was the
Tamil film biopic Iruvar directed by
Mani Ratnam in which he starred opposite debutant
Aishwarya Rai.
[27] The controversial film,
[28][29] in which Mohanlal depicted an actor who turns politician (based on
M G Ramachandran), was a critical success and won many awards including Best Film award at the
Belgrade International Film Festival and two
National Film Awards.
[30]
In 1998, he produced and starred in
Harikrishnans alongside
Mammootty and
Juhi Chawla. The film was a commercial success but was not received well by critics.
[31] The movie had two versions of
climaxes which were screened in different regions based on whether
Mammootty or Mohanlal was more popular there.
[32] This, however, became controversial when lawsuits were filed claiming that prints exhibited in Hindu-dominated areas showed Mohanlal marrying the heroine, whereas the ones in
Muslim-dominated areas showed Mammootty marrying her.
[33]
Mohanlal depicted a
Kathakali dancer whose personal life is a tragedy in the 1999 Indo-French period drama
Vaanaprastham directed by
Shaji Karun. Since Mohanlal was not trained in Kathakali, he took tips from reputed Kathakali dancers to essay the role for which he received his second National Award for Best Actor and fourth Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor.
[10] It was also adjudged the best feature film of the year and won the best editing award at National Film Awards. The film was also selected for the competitive section at the
Cannes Film Festival and several other international festivals and won six Kerala State awards.
[1][34][35]
In 2000, Mohanlal starred in
Narasimham playing a rogue with a good heart.
[36] It became one of the highest grossing movies in the history of
Malayalam cinema.
[37] In the next two years, Mohanlal was typecasted in similar larger-than-life
action hero roles in movies like
Ravanaprabhu,
Thandavam,
Praja,
Onnaman and
Chathurangam. These movies were widely criticised for their repetitive plots, lewd dialogues, punch lines and male chauvinistic outlook.
[37][38][39][40][41]"The
Narasimham hangover is terrifically strong and it has, at least for the moment, killed the prospects of good films. I don't see any other reason for the failure of well made female-oriented films like
Mazha and
Madhuranombarakkattu," wrote
The New Indian Express.
[37]The director Priyadarshan commented, "Mohanlal is the complete actor who can excel in both action and comedy. But it is a pity that the actor fell into an image trap after "Narasimham", when he became the one-man entertainer who could dance, fight, and sing!"
[42] Mohanlal has defended the poor performance of his movies saying that a "movie is a joint effort" where the actor "is just a vehicle to convey what comes as a thought to the writer" and the number of "great story tellers.. have dwindled" in Malayalam cinema.
[15]
In 2002, Mohanlal played the role of D. Sivanandan, a
Mumbai police officer,
[10] in his first
Bollywood movie,
Company, which introduced him to the
Hindi-speaking audience in India and for which he won the
IIFA Star Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor.
[43][44] The movie dealt with the real life story of two underworld dons who ruled Mumbai played by
Ajay Devgan and
Vivek Oberoi. Mohanlal's performance was well-received.
The Hindu noted that the actor is "at his natural best" and "does not look stifled or anxious as other South Indian stars do when they appear in a Hindi movie for the first time".
[45]
The following year, Mohanlal, trying to change his action hero image,
[46] returned to
humour roles with
Kilichundan Mampazham,
Balettan,
Hariharan Pilla Happiyanu and
Mr. Brahmachari.
Kilichundan Mampazham, promoted as a comeback vehicle for the actor, received good reviews but did not perform well in the box-office.
[47][48] Balettan, directed by V M Vinu, was an "average story" which had "nothing new to offer",
[49][50] but was a commercial success.
[51] Mohanlal plays the role of Balettan, a bank employee always willing to lend a helping hand, who is forced to hide many secrets after his father's death leading to his family's mistrust.
[49] In 2004,
Natturajavu and
Mambazhakkalam were his notable commercial successes.
[52]
Still fighting the larger-than-life image, Mohanlal appeared in the 2005 comedy
Udayananu Tharam as an aspiring film director. Well-received by the audience and the critics, the movie did well even in places where Malayalam films do not run in regular shows like
Vadodara,
Rajkot,
Pune and
Ahmedabad.
[23] In the same year, he appeared in director
Blessy's second film
Thanmathra, a film that tells the story of an individual suffering from
Alzheimer's disease. The film received positive reviews and Mohanlal's performance was praised.
[53] Mohanlal won Kerala State Award for Best Actor for his performance in a difficult role; his character does not speak in the second-half of the movie.
[54] An "aesthetically shot" scene in which the husband, a dark shot of Mohanlal in nude, is distracted by a lizard on the wall while having sex with his wife was deleted after it became controversial in the conservative Kerala society.
[53][55]
In 2006, he worked with the director
Sathyan Anthikkad, after nearly a decade, in the movie
Rasathanthram. Although a commercial success,
[56] the movie received mixed reviews.
[57] Rediff.com enjoyed the movie, though it used "different elements that are tried and tested over the ages" and commented that "Mohanlal, though repeating himself for the umpteenth time, pleases."
[58] Mohanlal also acted in
Keertichakra by director
Major Ravi, in which he plays the role of an
Indian Army officer Major Mahadevan. The movie was shot in
Kashmir.
[59] and was a commercial success.
[60] A
dubbed version of the movie was released in Tamil as
Aran, but Mohanlal disassociated himself with the movie since his voice was not used, stating that "I prefer to speak for my role in the film."
[61] Mohanlal also acted in the sequels
Kurukshetra (2008) and
Kandahar (2010).
In 2007, Mohanlal won the Kerala State Award for Best Actor for his performance in the movie
Paradesi. Although a commercial failure, the movie garnered positive reviews,
[62] with
Sify.com noting that "Mohanlal is mesmerising and reinvents the idiom of acting once more with feeling."
[63] The same year, he appeared in his second
Bollywood movie,
Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag, and in
Hallo, which became one of the biggest Malayalam hits of 2007.
[64] In
Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag, a remake of
Sholay, Mohanlal played the role of the protagonist Narasimha, a cop with a vendetta against the criminal Babban Singh played by
Amitabh Bachchan. The movie received extremely poor reviews and Mohanlal's performance was also criticized.
[65][66]Rediff.com commented that the actor, forced to speak "farcical, formulaic tripe", "gave up the chase for greatness halfway through".
[67]
In 2009, Mohanlal appeared with
Kamal Haasan in the
Tamil movie
Unnaipol Oruvan. His first film in 2010 was
Evidam Swargamanu, directed by
Roshan Andrews. His other movies in 2010,
Janakan,
Alexander the Great, and
Kandahar, were commercial and critical failures.
[68] Malayala Manorama criticized his choice of roles commenting that
Malayalees did not want to see another "The “I Am Still Superman” Mohanlal Movie" in 2011 and that the actor should "either shape up for the roles he is trying to play or stick to roles that suit him".
[68] His first release of 2011 was the multi-starrer
Christian Brothers, released on 18 March 2011 in which he acted alongside
Suresh Gopi,
Dileep and
Sarath Kumar and the latest release is
Chinatown, a multi-starrer featuring
Dileep and
Jayaram, which released on April 14, 2011.
