Drishyam star Mohanlal to receive Dadasaheb Phalke Award and here's why Jeethu Joseph calls him 'born actor'

Malayalam superstar Mohanlal has been named the recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India’s highest honour in cinema. The recognition cements his place as one of the country’s most versatile and enduring actors — a status his long-time collaborator Jeethu Joseph says is rooted in craft, not image.

The Drishyam director describes Mohanlal’s artistry in deceptively simple terms. “He’s a born actor. You give him anything, he’s like water. He will take the shape of that bottle. That’s it,” Joseph told me during our recent conversation in Dubai.

For Joseph, who has guided Mohanlal through the globally acclaimed Drishyam franchise, the key lies in adaptability. “When we consider the age factors, there are few certain things that he cannot do right now. He cannot act like a college boy or something. Other than that, whatever the characterisation, whatever the story — if the script is good, definitely he will perform it, and he will give you more than you expected.”

That ability to dissolve into roles — whether as a beleaguered patriarch in Drishyam, a conflicted cop, or an everyman pushed to his limits — has defined Mohanlal’s five-decade career.

For audiences, it’s what makes him instantly believable across genres. For directors, it’s what makes him indispensable: an actor who trusts the script and enhances it rather than demanding it bend to his stardom.

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award now formalises what fans and filmmakers already know. Mohanlal’s legacy is not just about box office numbers or longevity. It is about the rare gift Jeethu Joseph so precisely captured — the ability to shift, adapt, and embody any character with fluid grace. Or, as Joseph put it: “He will give you more than you expected.”