Lal (actor)

Early life

Lal was born as Michael to the late M. A. Paul and late Philomina, as their eldest son. He received his schooling at St. Augustine's High School, Ernakulam. His brother, Alex Paul is a music composer in the Malayalam film industry and his son, Jean is a movie director in the same industry. Lal's younger sister Neena's son, Balu Varghese is an actor in the Malayalam film industry.

Career

He started his career as a mimicry artist in Kalabhavan, along with his childhood friend Siddique, who would later team up as Siddique-Lal to make many films. Lal and Siddique began their film career working as assistant directors to Fazil in Nokkethadhoorathu Kannum Nattu.

Siddique-Lal production had never been dependent on star value or superstar formula that was witnessed in those days in Malayalam cinema. They had always opted out from casting Mohanlal or Mammootty. Ultimately, both of them had changed their thoughts later and when their fourth production film was to get launched, Siddique-Lal had opted for Mohanlal and made Vietnam Colony (1992) which did wonders in the box office too. The duo again had combined in their fifth production and made Kabooliwala (1994), which was also a success.

After that, both decided to part ways as a director pair and Lal turned producer with the Siddique-directed Mammootty-starrer Hitler. Lal debuted in acting with a villain role as Paniyan in Suresh Gopi-starrer Kaliyattam, directed by Jayaraj. Kaliyattam was a new take on Othello, where Lal played Paniyan, the character standing for Iago. He runs a film post-production company named as Lal Media Arts, Kochi. The year 2009 saw his comeback again as a director. He directed the sequel to In Harihar Nagar named 2 Harihar Nagar, which got released and was declared a hit. For his performance in the 2012 film Ozhimuri, he won the National Film Award – Special Mention. He was won of Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor in Thalappavu (2008), Ayaal (2013) and Zachariayude Garbhinikal (2013). He later directed films like King Liar (2016), and Tsunami (2021).

Lal, who also plays an important role in Sulthan (2021) and also heaped praise on Mari Selvaraj for Karnan (2021). Despite being given the most uni-dimensional character in the story Taanakkaran (2022), the actor effortlessly carries the role and leaves arguably more impact than in his previous outing. He roped in to play the role of a warrior in Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan: I (2022) and Ponniyin Selvan: II (2023).

He starred in the Malayalam web series Kerala Crime Files (2023) as Inspector which was released on Disney + Hotstar. and joined season 2 of Amazon prime series Suzhal.

Personal life

Lal is married to Nancy and they have two children— a son Jean Paul Lal and a daughter Monica Lal. Jean Paul is a film director.

Awards

Filmography

As an actor

Malayalam

Tamil

Telugu

Other Languages

Web Series

Director, writer

Producer, distributor

Other crew credits

• 1987: Manivathoorile Aayiram Sivarathrikal – Script supervisor and assistant director (as Siddique–Lal)

References

References

1. "Cochin Kalabhavan".
2. (4 May 2019). "Kunchacko's Udaya Studio being razed". [[Malayala Manorama]].
3. (25 March 2013). "A Great year for Malayalam cinema, say National award winners". mathrubhumi.com.
4. "Review: King Liar tests your patience".
5. "Review: HONEY BEE 2.5 MOVIE REVIEW". The Times of India.
6. "Review: Tsunami Movie Review : A joke that gets serious". The Times of India.
7. "Lal: I was depressed on the first-day shoot of 'Ponniyin Selvan'!".
8. (8 April 2022). "Taanakkaran Movie Review: A powerful film about a lesser-known problem".
9. (4 December 2019). "Mollywood actor Lal in Mani Ratnam's 'Ponniyin Selvan'". The Times of India.
10. (23 June 2023). "Kerala Crime Files Review: This well-written and engaging Malayalam thriller is a compelling watch".
11. Ramachandran, Naman. (10 February 2025). "Indian Crime Thriller 'Suzhal – The Vortex' Sets Season 2 Return on Prime Video". Variety.
12. (31 July 2012). "Director Revathy S Varma, on 'Mad Dad'". The New Indian Express.
13. (3 August 2022). "Lal, Anagha Narayanan headline Dear Vaappi".
14. (2022-11-05). "Jude Anthony Joseph Unveils Title of his Upcoming Film Based on 2018 Kerala Floods".
15. (6 January 2024). "Tovino's Nadikar Thilakam shoot completed".
16. (2025-05-24). "Azadi movie review: Sreenath Bhasi’s jailbreak drama struggles to break free of clichés, is shackled to a terrible twist".
17. (2022-11-02). "Ahaana Krishna to play a die-hard Mammootty fan in Nancy Rani, second poster out".
18. Mullappilly, Sreejith. (2025-07-16). "Fahadh Faasil and Kalyani Priyadarshan’s Odum Kuthira Chaadum Kuthira gets a new release date".
19. Desk, Cinema Express. (2025-11-11). "Gokul Suresh's Ambalamukkile Visheshangal confirms release date".
20. Features, C. E.. (2024-01-05). "RJ Balaji's Singapore Saloon gets a release date".
21. Features, C. E.. (2024-06-09). "Video of 'Oru Naalil' song from Kavin's Star out".
22. Features, C. E.. (2025-01-10). "Kadhalikka Neramillai clears censorship formalities".
23. Features, C. E.. (2025-07-10). "Tharshan's next, Surrender sets release date".
24. Desk, Cinema Express. (2025-10-13). "Rajisha Vijayan heaps praise on Dhruv, Anupama, and Mari Selvaraj: 'With Bison, a star is born…'".
25. (2025-09-25). "They Call Him OG box office collection: Pawan Kalyan, Emraan Hashmi’s film scores Rs 98 crore worldwide in advance booking, a career-high for the Telugu superstar".
26. (2023-04-21). "Aju Varghese and Lal look intense in Kerala Crime Files first look poster".
27. (28 May 2025). "Kerala Crime Files 2: Trailer of the Aju Varghese-starrer shows a investigative team's frantic search for CPO Ambili Raju".
28. "Killer Soup: Manoj Bajpayee, Konkona Sen Sharma's series to release on THIS date {{!}} Filmfare.com".
29. Features, C. E.. (2025-02-11). "Prime Video announces premiere date for Suzhal 2".
30. "Mathrubhumi English – Acting is easy, direction most satisfying: Filmmaker Lal".