Interview | Mohanlal says even if superstar culture ends in Indian cinema, 'there will always be great actors'

For iv decades, Mohanlal has been at the pinnacle of picture palace. On with Mammootty, he has been the leading human face of Malayalam picture palace since the early 80s. But as in the north, there have been conversations down south too that these two may well be the 'last of the superstars' in Kollywood. In a chat with Hindustan Times ahead of the release of his new film L2: Empuraan, the screen legend discussed the film, superstar culture in India, and more. (Also read: 'I'm not that professional': Mohanlal reacts to Akshay Kumar remaking his Malayalam hits, addresses comparisons)On the fading superstar cultureAsk him about the supposedly dying superstar culture, and the actor has a succinct response, "These are just terms. Megastar, superstar are all just given by the audience. We had this chance of acting in numerous films. I don't know people will now be able to complete 400-500 films. It is impossible now because the totality of the filmmaking has changed. The entire vision of the films has changed. That time, it was about the number of hits. It was a slow development, and finally, they will put that term - megastar or superstar. It is a title."So, will there be more superstars in the future? We ask him. The veteran replies, "There will definitely be great actors from the younger generation. They need good scripts. They have to get good directors and colleagues. I had the chance to work with amazing directors and brilliant co-stars. They created me, not me."On L2: Empuraan and its scaleL2: Empuraan is one of the most ambitious films in Mohanlal's career and certainly on the biggest scale. A sequel to his 2019 blockbuster Lucifer, the film is one of the most expensive Malayalam films ever made and features the star in a larger-than-life role of a politician-cum-warlord. Mohanlal calls his transition from the common man to demigod-like characters 'a natural progression of his career. “Nothing is forcefully done,” he says.While the Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada films have explored pan-India aspirations, Malayalam cinema is only now attempting that with Empuraan. Mohanlal explains, "We tried it earlier in some way with Kala Paani (his 1996 film). But Pulimurugan had an impact," he says. The 2016 film was also dubbed in Tamil and became the first Malayalam film to gross ₹100 crore. "Earlier, my films used to be dubbed in Telugu or Kannada. But later, it just faded. It started again a few years ago."Is Empuraan a pan-India film?Mohanlal maintains that with Empuraan, the aim was not to go to pan-India but just to tell the story on a grand scale. "We never thought this was a pan-India film. It just happened. After Lucifer was accepted all over India, it felt this was the right way to go."L2: Empuraan, directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran, also stars Manju Warrier, Tovino Thomas, Indrajith Sukumaran, Abhimanyu Singh, Eriq Ebouaney, Jerome Flynn, Saikumar, Baiju Santhosh and Suraj Venjaramoodu. The film will be released in theatres on March 27.