Veteran filmmaker Priyadarshan has confirmed that his landmark 100th directorial feature will once again reunite him with Mohanlal, the actor with whom he has collaborated the most throughout his long career. The director revealed the plan in a conversation with Variety India.
Priyadarshan said the project is personally meaningful for him because Mohanlal was also the lead actor in his directorial debut. He hopes to reach the milestone of his hundredth film with the same star. The director noted that it would be a rare moment in cinema if someone’s first and hundredth film as director were made with the same actor, and said he would like to see that happen if things fall into place.
The film will also move away from Priyadarshan’s familiar comedy territory. While he did not disclose many details, he indicated that the project will not be a comedy and will instead be built around music.
The friendship between Priyadarshan and Mohanlal goes back to their younger days, even before either of them entered the film industry. Their professional association also began quite early. Priyadarshan’s first credited work in cinema, as a screenwriter on the 1983 Malayalam film Kuyiline Thedi, already featured Mohanlal among the lead actors.
Priyadarshan made his directorial debut the following year with Poochakkoru Mookkuthi, which again had Mohanlal in a leading role. Over the past four decades, Mohanlal has headlined around 30 films directed by the filmmaker. Altogether, the two have collaborated on roughly 40 films in total.
Their partnership has produced several memorable Malayalam films across genres. Some of the most popular among them include Chithram, Vandanam, Boeing Boeing, Mazha Peyyunnu Maddalam Kottunnu, Kilukkam, Thenmavin Kombath, Chandralekha, Aryan, Advaitham, Midhunam and Kala Pani, among many others.
Although the duo have worked together on drama, romance and historical films as well, their comedies are especially cherished by audiences and helped shape a golden era of mainstream Malayalam cinema.
Reflecting on Mohanlal as an actor, Priyadarshan told Variety India that he has always admired the star’s calm approach to success and failure. According to the director, Mohanlal never appears overly celebratory when a film succeeds and does not seem discouraged when one fails. Instead, he simply focuses on doing his part as an actor and gives complete commitment to the role.
Meanwhile, Priyadarshan’s upcoming directorial Haiwaan, a Hindi remake of his Malayalam thriller Oppam, will also see Mohanlal making a brief cameo appearance. The film stars Saif Ali Khan and Akshay Kumar in the lead roles.
