Dubai: Mohanlal shares advice for young actors ahead of 'Vrusshabha' release

The moment Mohanlal walked into the room, the press conference in Dubai stopped being just another promotional event. Applause erupted, and phones went up.

Held in the city ahead of Vrusshabha’s release on December 25, the event brought together the film’s principal cast and creators, including director Nanda Kishore, actors Ragini Dwivedi, Samarjit Lankesh, and Nayan Sarika, along with producer Ekta Kapoor, marking Balaji Telefilms’ entry into Malayalam cinema. But as expected, the gravity of the room orbited around Mohanlal — 48 years into a career that still commands awe across generations, particularly among the Malayali diaspora in the UAE.

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While the atmosphere was celebratory, the conversations remained firmly rooted in cinema. Ask questions only related to the film, we were strictly told.

Mohanlal’s unromantic truth for young actors

So, when asked what advice he would give young actors navigating today’s film industry, Mohanlal didn’t pause for poetry. His answer was disarmingly direct.

“There’s no mantra,” he said. “Work. Work. Work. That’s the only thing.”

The 65-year-old was quick to dismiss the idea of hacks or insider tricks. According to him, there is no substitute for commitment, for carrying a fire that sustains you long after applause fades.

“This is my 48th year,” he said, drawing spontaneous applause from the room. “No tips and no shortcuts. Don’t spoil them by giving it.”

Then came the caveat only a veteran could offer without cynicism: luck.

“Luck is not just a word — it’s a blessing,” Mohanlal added. “To get a good role is a blessing. Sometimes, even if you work hard, you don’t get it.”

It wasn’t discouraging. If anything, it was grounding. His advice acknowledged the unseen variables of cinema — the timing, the scripts that come your way, the alignment of effort and opportunity. Success, he suggested, is not just about talent or discipline, but about asking something of the universe and being ready when it answers.

A film born from old-school emotion

Director Nanda Kishore’s reflections on Vrusshabha looked back towards something he believes cinema is quietly losing. When asked what sparked the idea behind the film, Nanda Kishore spoke like a storyteller concerned with erosion.

“Today, relationships have become very thin-lined,” he said. “Earlier, it was joint families. People lived together. Now, it’s become micro-families.”

For Nanda Kishore, Vrusshabha is a response to that. A consciously old-school attempt to bring audiences back to shared emotional spaces, both on screen and inside theatres.

“I love bringing families together,” he said. “I want to see families watching films in theatres.”

Rather than framing the film as a high-concept spectacle, he positioned it as an emotional composite born from observing bonds and conflicts of everyday life. The story blends family drama with a reincarnation backdrop, but the intention, he said, was always to make the emotions feel real and familiar.

Ideas, he explained, don’t arrive with signboards. They emerge naturally from watching people, from noticing how connections evolve, and from wanting to hold a mirror up to audiences without preaching to them.

That emotional grounding is also why Mohanlal became central to the film, not as a calculated casting choice.

Nanda Kishore revealed that he never writes with actors in mind. The script came first, written as a story, as a book, as a set of characters. But once it was complete, the question answered itself.

“Who can be a king? Who can be a modern father? Who can do action and still show emotion just through his eyes?” he asked rhetorically.

Producer Ekta Kapoor echoed this belief, calling her collaboration with Mohanlal both a creative and business decision, one rooted in credibility and risk-taking. For Balaji Telefilms, Vrusshabha represents a deliberate step into Malayalam cinema, guided by faith in the industry’s storytelling legacy.

"Malayalam cinema produces some of the best content in India today, and Mohanlal sir is synonymous with that excellence," she said. "When this project came to us, it truly felt like a blessing, our first Malayalam film being associated with him."

Husain Rizvi

husain@khaleejtimes.com

Husain Rizvi is a Senior Features Writer who covers entertainment and lifestyle stories and has a profound interest in tech (games) and sports. When he’s not working, you can find him at the gym, or finishing a boss fight in a video game.