It was a few months ago on my trip back from Kochi that I had this totally unexpected but plesant opportunity to realise a dream. From the early 80s I have been a fan of Mohanlal, like scores of Keralites, and his easy-flowing method of acting, but I never had the chance to meet this wonderful talent.
Lal's movies like Kireedom (Gardish in Hindi), Kilukkam, Rajavinte Makan, Irupatham Nootandu, Nadodikkattu, Pattana Pravesham, Thoovanathumbikal and Bharatham have been my all-time favourites. But again I was never able to meet him despite several tries through my friends, who are active in various branches of cinema.
Once I came to know that Lal will be in Palakkad for shooting and the location was my friend's ancestral home! So, I thought time has come to meet Lal, only to know later that they had shifted the location to a different place due to some technical reason. Disappointment was massive.
That was nearly 11 years ago, and finally I realised my ambition on a windy morning at the Bangalore International Airport. I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw a familiar face standing next to me in the airport shuttle bus, clad in blue jeans and a grey shirt. It was the man whom I was dreaming to meet for so long and it took me some gingerly minutes to go up to him and introduce myself.
But the three-time National award for best actor winning Super Star was polite and cordial as we chatted some time on various issues including his interest in buying an IPL team. Ultimately, Lal was not a part of the consortium that bought the Kochi IPL team, but hopefully he will be part of the team in some capacity that I can have further meetings with him.
A few days later I happened to meet another Malayalam/Tamil actor Jayaram at the airport. The Rasikar Thilakam too was a cordial customer, but somehow it failed to create the impact of the meeting that I had with Mohanlal. Simple but radiating the man's humility and creative talent.
