Date:14/10/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/fr/2005/10/14/stories/2005101400400200.htm

Back Entertainment Bangalore Chennai and Tamil Nadu Delhi Hyderabad Thiruvananthapuram

All in the lines

G. Jayakumar

A fan pays tribute to Mohanlal by painting 101 caricatures of the star.

S. Suresh Babu's way of paying tribute to the histrionic abilities of superstar Mohanlal was to create a set of 101 paintings in oil, each one depicting an important and memorable film character played by the latter.

Suresh Babu is no ordinary admirer of Mohanlal. In his late thirties, he has written the scripts for films, including `Dada Saheb' and `Thandavam.'

A graduate in fine arts as well as an accomplished cartoonist, he has used his skill to capture Mohanal's visage on paper. At present, he is working on the script of the Mohanlal starrer `Kanal.'

Deep fascination

As a scriptwriter, Suresh Babu has been able to observe Mohanlal's acting abilities from close quarters. "The range of roles enacted by Mohanlal and the way he has matured as an actor have always deeply fascinated me," Suresh Babu says.

He chose caricatures as the medium as he felt that it was the best method to bring out the essence of the wide range of film characters depicted by Mohanlal.

The caricatures include Mohanlal's first role as a villain called Narendran in `Manjil virinja pookal,' Sethu Madhavan in `Kireedam,' Kunjikuttan in `Vanaprastam,' Mullankolo Velayudhan in `Naren,' and so on.

WITH HIS MUSE: Suresh Babu with Mohanlal.

It is bound to be a trip down memory lane for fans of Mohanlal.

Some of his roles in such films as `Gandhi Nagar 2nd Street' and `Nadodikattu' are bound to evoke a smile.

One caricature, for instance, depicts Mohanlal wearing a khaki outfit and the peaked cap that his character wore in the film `Gandhi Nagar 2nd Street.' "When I presented Mohanlal with the caricatures, he was quite pleased," Suresh Babu adds with pride.