Mohanlal Vishwanathan Nair would be seen next in Priyadarshan’s action-thriller Tezz along side Ajay Devgn, Anil Kapoor, Kangana Ranuat, Zayed Khan, Sameera Reddy. The film releases on April 27.
Ask him why he stayed away from Bollywood films even after being a superstar down South, he said, “I don’t know. It is nothing like that.”
“Unknowingly again, I am playing a police officer in Tezz, it is a small role. But the placement of the role is very critical in the film. I feel it is one of the best films of Priyan, I have seen the film partly. Especially the making of the film and the action sequences are amazing. Also, this is my third film with Ajay Devgn,” he said.
“I have done films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, I don’t find any difference. I am not fluent in Hindi. I used to learn Hindi but no one over there speaks Hindi so it is not that fluent. As far as doing films in various languages is concerned you have to by-heart your dialogues for that,” he said.
At a time when young entrants from South are looking to make a strong presence in Bollywood, Malayalam superstar Mohanlal feels that although the reach of Hindi cinema is wider, he has nothing to prove here as an actor.
“I am working for 33 years there, what should I come and prove in Hindi industry? I am content and happy with my own language. If I get a good and irresistible role, only then will I try and do a film here. I don’t want to prove anything,” mohanlal said.
“Lot of people, most of the actresses begin from South.They are newcomers and they try to do Hindi films as the reach is greater. There are so many factors. For actors like me South is fine,” the 51-year-old said.
Mohanlal made his acting debut in Malayalam cinema in 1978 withThiranottam but the film was never released due to Censor issues. Later, in 1980, he got to play the lead antagonist in his first release Manjil Virinja Pookkal at 20. Then, he went on to do several such roles in various movies before he established himself as a lead actor.
It was after the success of his 1986 film, Rajavinte Makan, that he was labeled a superstar of Malayalam cinema.
In 2002, Mohanlal played the role of a police officer in his first Bollywood movie Company, which introduced him to the Hindi-speaking audience in India. He won the IIFA star screen award for the best supporting actor in the Ram Gopal Varma directed movie.
