When Mohanlal blasted Priyadarshan for ‘betraying’ him, spent an Onam in hospital | Malayalam News
5 min readKochiMay 1, 2026 06:17 PM IST Fazil’s directorial debut, Manjil Virinja Pookkal, is often considered a pathbreaking film of its era. The movie was released during the Christmas season of 1980, just over a month after the tragic demise of Malayalam’s first action hero, Jayan. At the time, Ratheesh had yet to take over Jayan’s spot in the trio of superstars, the other two positions being occupied by Sukumaran and Soman. Angry young men were ruling the screens then, and Fazil arrived with a romantic thriller featuring fairly unknown newcomers, including a 20-year-old debutant named Mohanlal. While Shankar and Poornima Bhagyaraj (née Poornima Jayaram) played the lead roles, Mohanlal appeared as the antagonist. Manjil Virinja Pookkal opened to massively favourable responses. According to Manorama Online, the film, mounted on a budget of Rs 7 lakh, ended up collecting Rs 1 crore, making it a huge blockbuster. In all honesty, Mohanlal hasn’t had to look back since then, and even after 46 years, he remains one of the two uncrowned rulers of Malayalam cinema, …



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