Wikipedia
Mohanlal Viswanathan Nair (born 21 May 1960), better known as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, producer and occasional singer best known for his work in Malayalam films.
Mohanlal made his acting debut in Thiranottam (1978), but the film got released only after 25 years due to censorship issues. His first film to be released was 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 cult classic in action movie genre. In a career spanning over three decades, Mohanlal has acted in over 300 Malayalam films in various genres. Mohanlal has also acted in Bollywood, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. Of these, his notable roles were in Iruvar (1997), directed by Mani Ratnam, and Company (2002), directed by Ram Gopal Varma.
Mohanlal has won four Indian National Film Awards – two Best Actor Awards, one Special Jury Award, and one Award for Best Film as producer; along with six Kerala State Film Awards for Best Actor and eight Filmfare Awards for Best Actor. In 2001, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour, for his contributions towards Indian cinema. In 2009, he became the first and the only actor to receive the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Territorial Army of India and in 2010 he received an honorary doctorate from Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kerala. His role in Bharatam was listed among 25 greatest acting performance of Indian cinema by Forbes on occasion of celebrating 100 years of Indian Cinema. He was elected as the most popular Keralite in an online poll conducted by CNN-IBN in 2006 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Kerala's formation.