On Vishu, Mohanlal's most loved film Devasuram clocked 27 years and the film still has a cult fan following. Helmed by veteran director IV Sasi and produced by VBK Menon, the action-drama released on 14 April 1993. Devasuram was written by Ranjith and starred Revathy in the female lead.
Upon its release, Devasuram was a runaway hit at the box office. The film ran for 200 days across the cinemas and became the top Malayalam grosser of 1993.
The iconic character
The character has been inspired from a real life person named Mullassery Rajagopal. In an interview with Manorama News, Ranjith had earlier said that it was the love story story between Rajagopal and his wife that made him to develop the story of the character Mangalassery Neelakandan.
Once when asked whom Ranjth would choose as Neelakandan from the current generation of actors, he said, “The character of Mohanlal is irreplaceable. Not that the young stars are less talented but I cannot imgaine anyone else in place of Mohanlal.”
The superstar
One of Mohanlal's greatest strength is that he beguiles you into believing that he's just like you. Here, Mohanlal plays a flawed character and at the same time there is an intimacy to his own beliefs. Good actors connect with you and Mohanlal does that with ease. Breaking all stereotypes, he showed us that besides good and bad, grey is okay too.
Mass dialogues
The dialogues of the film had that element of mass and class mixed in right proportion. The film has some well-written moments and power-packed poetic dialogues. Ranjith had said in the interview that after hearing the story IV Sasi had come to him asking to let him direct the movie. The movie was also known for it's brilliant characterizations.
Devasuram was one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of 90s, which was later remade in Telugu as Kunti Putrudu. The sequel of Devasuram, titled Ravanu Prabhu released in 2001 and went on to become a box office success as well.
