Mohanlal's recent Dadasaheb Phalke Award win has brought the award back into the limelight. As with any other award, the announcement regarding Mohanlal winning it has been making internet users wonder why he is only the second person from Kerala to gain the recognition. Many netizens questioned why Mohanlal's contemporary Mammootty is yet to receive the award, regarded as the highest honour in Indian cinema. There is hot debate on this topic on the internet, even as Mammootty himself has congratulated Mohanlal on the feat. Meanwhile, in Tamil cinema circles, fans are equally disappointed at Kamal Haasan not being part of the coveted list of actors to win the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Rajinikanth, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Rajkumar, and Sivaji Ganesan are the only other actors to receive the award from the South Indian film industry. Actor-filmmaker LV Prasad had also won it.

Interestingly, there are fake claims about the perceived lack of appreciation for Rajinikanth when he received the award back in 2021. In fact, everyone from Chief Minister MK Stalin to Kamal Haasan congratulated Rajinikanth on the achievement. Kamal said that the decision to present Rajinikanth with the award was "100 per cent appropriate," whereas AR Rahman commended his acting prowess.

There have not been any divided opinions about whether or not Mohanlal deserves the award, though. Everyone from Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan to Amitabh Bachchan said that he is worthy of the recognition. At the same time, the actor's Company director Ram Gopal Varma jokingly said that Dadasaheb Phalke should be given the Mohanlal Award and not the other way around.