Dadasaheb Phalke Award Speech Sparks Controversy for Mohanlal

Veteran Malayalam superstar Mohanlal recently received the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India’s highest cinematic honour, at the National Film Awards ceremony. While his recognition was widely celebrated, his acceptance speech ignited a significant debate on social media and among cultural commentators, revolving around two specific claims: his assertion of being the “youngest recipient” and the accuracy of a poetic verse attributed to Kumaran Asan.

The ‘Youngest Recipient’ Claim Under Scrutiny

During his speech, the 65-year-old actor, who became only the second person from Kerala to receive the honour (after Adoor Gopalakrishnan in 2004), expressed his profound pride, stating he was “deeply humbled to be the youngest recipient and only the second ever from the state to be bestowed with this national recognition.”

However, this claim of holding the “youngest recipient” title has been contested by factual records. Historical data shows that the late legendary playback singer Lata Mangeshkar was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1990 when she was 60, making her the youngest recipient to date. Furthermore, filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan, the first from Kerala, was 63 when he received the award in 2004, which is also younger than Mohanlal’s current age of 65. The controversy highlights a noticeable factual inaccuracy in an otherwise emotional and well-received speech.

Kumaran Asan Verse Questioned

The second point of contention arose from a verse Mohanlal recited to honour the legacy of the Malayalam film industry. Attributing the lines to the revered poet and social reformer Kumaran Asan’s seminal work, ‘Veena Poovu’ (The Fallen Flower), he quoted: “Chithayil aazhnu poyathumallo, chiram manoharamaya poovithu” which he translated as, “This flower did not merely fall into the dust; it lived a life of beauty.”

Soon after the speech, literary scholars and netizens took to social media to point out that these specific lines do not appear in Kumaran Asan’s original ‘Veena Poovu’. The debate escalated as users attempted to trace the actual origin of the poem, with suggestions ranging from other prominent Malayalam poets like P. Bhaskaran (possibly from his work ‘Orkkuka Vallapozhum’) or Changampuzha. Some online discussions even humorously, or critically, questioned whether the actor’s team may have inadvertently used an inaccurate source like an AI chatbot (such as ChatGPT) for the quote.

While the misattribution does not diminish the actor’s stellar contributions to cinema, it has sparked a wider conversation about the responsibility of public figures to verify historical and literary references, especially when presenting them on a national stage. Despite these debates, the award remains a monumental achievement, acknowledging Mohanlal’s four-decade-long, influential career spanning over 350 films across multiple languages.