Mohanlal /

Mohanlal Viswanathan Nair (born 21 May 1960), is an Indian actor and producer known for his versatile acting in Malayalam cinema. He made his acting debut in the unreleased movie Thiranottam (1978), which was followed by a role as the lead antagonist in his first release Manjil Virinja Pookkal in 1980. Antagonistic parts in several movies followed before Mohanlal established himself as a lead actor playing a wide variety of character types in comedy and action films amongst others. He was labelled a superstar of Malayalam cinema in 1985 after the success of Rajavinte Makan, in which he played an underworld don. Mohanlal became a film producer with the 1990 musical His Highness Abdullah and has also acted in a number of Tamil and Bollywood films. Of these, his notable roles were in Iruvar, directed by Mani Ratnam, and Company, directed by Ram Gopal Varma. As well as being an actor and producer, Mohanlal also owns businesses involved in film distribution, restaurants and packaged spices.