Mohanlal explains why his role in Jeethu Joseph’s Neru is ‘helpless and heroic’
Mohanlal essays the role of lawyer Vijayamohan in Jeethu Joseph’s Neru, which also has Anaswara Rajan, Priyamani and Jagadish in pivotal roles
Dec 20, 2023
Mohanlal in Neru
Soon after the trailer of Jeethu Joseph’s Neru dropped online, fans of superstar Mohanlal were quick to flood the comment section with their thoughts – ‘This is the Mohanlal we had waited to see’. This, especially because the superstar had a string of box-office duds in Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham, Aarattu, Alone and Monster – the latter two being experimental ventures that never exploited the artiste in him.
In a recent interview ahead of Neru’s release, Mohanlal opened up about fans’ expectations of wanting to see him in roles that stir up emotions and where his character of Vijayamohan in Neru falls in that spectrum.
The actor dismissed claims that his recent roles didn’t quite give him the space to portray emotions on screen - something that he is arguably a master of. “Every character we play has emotions, and you can only emote based on the requirements of each role,” he said, in an interview with Mathrubhumi.
The actor stated that Neru is a family-cum-courtroom drama that demanded a different type of portrayal. “In my previous films too, I have only emoted based on what the character demanded. Even in Lucifer, my character is someone who is pregnant with emotions,” he remarked.
Mohanlal on fans comparing Neru and Drishyam films
On the fans’ expectations about Neru and comparisons to Drishyam and Drishyam 2, he said, “Probably, they are expecting when I play someone who is helpless, his deeds have a more heroic effect. When someone, whom we think cannot rise up to a challenge, does something out of the ordinary, we brand him as a hero. Even in the case of Drishyam, Georgekutty was hailed as a hero because he did things to protect his family that he couldn't in real life,” Mohanlal explained.
In an earlier interview with OTTplay, Jeethu said that in Neru, the culprit is caught after committing a crime and this is shown in the first few minutes of the film, and it mostly focuses on the trial, where the lawyer has to prove the truth in court.
Mohanlal added to this: “The nature of crime in Neru is different and hence it’s complicated. So, there's the challenge of proving it, and when that duty falls on my character, he’s naturally helpless. The rest of the plot is if he will be successful or not.”
Neru, which is set to hit theatres on December 21, has also Priyamani, Siddique, Anaswara Rajan, Jagadish and Santhi Mayadevi, who has also co-scripted the movie with Jeethu.
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