Lal

M. P. Michael (born 2 December 1958), better known by his stage name Lal , is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter, producer and distributor who predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films and in a few Telugu films. Lal has won several awards, including a National Film Award – Special Mention for acting, two Kerala State Film Awards for Best Actor (2008, 2013), and a Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Malayalam (2008). He is the owner of Lal Media Arts, a post-production studio.

Early life Lal was born as Michael to the late M. A. Paul and late Philomina, as their eldest son. He received his schooling at St. Augustine's High School, Ernakulam. His brother, Alex Paul is a music composer in the Malayalam film industry and his son, Jean is a movie director in the same industry. Lal's younger sister Neena's son, Balu Varghese is an actor in the Malayalam film industry.

Career He started his career as a mimicry artist in Kalabhavan, along with his childhood friend Siddique, who would later team up as Siddique-Lal to make many films. Lal and Siddique began their film career working as assistant directors to Fazil in Nokkethadhoorathu Kannum Nattu. He was won of Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor in Thalappavu (2008), Ayaal (2013) and Zachariayude Garbhinikal (2013). He later directed films like King Liar (2016), and Tsunami (2021).

Lal, who also plays an important role in Sulthan (2021) and also heaped praise on Mari Selvaraj for Karnan (2021). Despite being given the most uni-dimensional character in the story Taanakkaran (2022), the actor effortlessly carries the role and leaves arguably more impact than in his previous outing. He roped in to play the role of a warrior in Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan: I (2022) and Ponniyin Selvan: II (2023).

He starred in the Malayalam web series Kerala Crime Files (2023) as Inspector which was released on Disney + Hotstar. and joined season 2 of Amazon prime series Suzhal.

Personal life Lal is married to Nancy and they have two children— a son Jean Paul Lal and a daughter Monica Lal. Jean Paul is a film director.

Awards

Filmography

As an actor Malayalam

Tamil + List of Lal Tamil film credits Year Title Role Notes2004 Engal Anna Sundaralingam / Veerapandi 2005 Sandakozhi Kasi 2007 Marudhamalai Maasi Oram Po Bigil Aalwar Punniyamoorthy Madurai Veeran Mayandi Deepavali Chidambaram Rameswaram Vasanthi's father 2008 Kaalai Jeevanandham IPS 2009 Thoranai Chennai Police Commissioner Anthony Yaar? Michael Azhagar Malai Rathnavelu 2010 Porkkalam Aslam Bhai 2013 Kutti Puli Arjunan 2015 Chandi Veeran Thamarai's father 2018 Antony George Seema Raja Karikkada / Kaathadi Kannan Sandakozhi 2 Kasi Special appearance 2020 God Father Marudhu Singam 2021 Sulthan Mansoor Karnan Yeama Raja 2022 Taanakkaran Eshwaramurthy The Warriorr Kumarappa Ponniyin Selvan: I Tirukoilur Malaiyaman 2023 Ponniyin Selvan: II Maamannan CM Sindhanai Rajan Tamil Kudimagan Sudalaiyandi 2024 Singapore Saloon Chacha Star Pandian 2025 Kadhalikka Neramillai Sid's father Surrender Periyasamy Bison Kaalamaadan Kandasamy 2026 Leader Sathyamoorthy

Telugu

Other Languages

Web Series + List of Lal web series credits Year Title Role Language Platform Notes Ref. 2023-2025 Kerala Crime Files CI SHO Kurian Malayalam Disney+ Hotstar Season 1,2 2024 Killer Soup Charles Lucas Hindi Netflix 2025 Suzhal: The Vortex Adv. Chellappa Tamil Amazon Prime Video Season 2

Director, writer

Producer, distributor

Other crew credits 1987: Manivathoorile Aayiram Sivarathrikal – Script supervisor and assistant director (as Siddique–Lal)