Mohanlal Vishwanathan Nair (born 21 May 1960), known as Mohanlal, is an Indian film actor and producer best known for his work inMalayalam films.

Mohanlal made his acting debut in Thiranottam (1978) but the film was never released due to censorship issues. He followed that by a role as the antagonist in his first release Manjil Virinja Pookkal (1980) at the age of 20. Mohanlal became a film producer with the 1990 musical hit His Highness Abdullah and has also acted in a number of Tamil and Bollywood films. Of these, his notable roles were in Iruvar, directed by Mani Ratnam, andCompany, directed by Ram Gopal Varma. As well as being an actor and producer, Mohanlal also owns businesses involved in film distribution, restaurants and packaged spices.

He was elected as most popular Keralite in a 2006 online poll conducted by CNN-IBN on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Kerala's formation.In 2001, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour, for his contributions to Indian cinema. He has won four Indian National Film Awards — two Best Actor Awards, one Special Jury Award for acting, and one Award for Best Film as producer along with six Kerala State Film Awards for Best Actor. In 2009, he became the first actor to be given the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in theTerritorial Army of India and in 2010 received an honorary doctorate from Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kerala.