The Mohanlal No One Knows

'I always say that if Mohanlal was not there, Priyadarshan would not have been there.'

- By Subhash K Jha

Priyadarshan shares a very close bond with Mohanlal. Out of the 97 films he directed, 45 starred the Malayalam superstar!

As Mohanlal received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award -- the first Malayalam actor to get this honour -- Priyan looks back at his childhood friendship with the actor, and tells Subhash K Jha, "We literally came together to Chennai! We made our first film, a black and white one, during our college days together. We were neighbours as children and would play in the same ground."

Nobody is more qualified than you to talk about Mohanlal. How many films have you done with him?

I have done 97 films so far, 45 of them are with Mohanlal.

No director-actor combination has done so many films together in the world! How do you feel about him getting the Dadasaheb Phalke Award?

I feel as if I've got the award!

We grew up together, started our careers together. When we were barely in our 20s, we took the same train to Chennai to become an actor and director.

Did you actually take the same train or is that a metaphor?

We literally came together to Chennai!

We made our first film, a black and white one, during our college days together.