Readers Write In #634: A10 Dancing Daily

By Aman Baasha

A tribute to my favorite memepage on Insta of late, as it transforms to A10.Dancing.Weekly

Of all the superstars beloved and celebrated by the Indian public in the diverse corners of our country, no one has baffled me more than Mohanlal. I was born long after Rajesh Khanna’s rise and fall, but that he was the first guy on screen who promised “sex”  on screen was not hard to guess, and who could miss those fabulous songs! The other great superstars are still going strong, and their style has been imitated for so long that it has become the star standard, be it the Megastar of Telugu or the Superstar in Tamil.

A star is inevitably predictable, he’s got these mannerisms and gestures the public loves, but only superstar to my mind defies these characteristics and that is Mohanlal. Mammootty is incredibly versatile, and is having a ball pulling out different characters while still being a star, but his star presence is a lot more obvious, the masculine frame and baritone boom, the obvious choice to match Rajinikanth in Thalapathi.

That Mohanlal is the greatest of actors is unmissable, much of Iruvar’s sheer rewatchability is the microgestures he infuses in Anandan, the look of shock in Hello Mr, or his wistful stare at Aishwarya. There is also Company where he fits seamlessly into RGV’s economic style. But this is all Mohanlal the actor, not the star. It’s easier to accept him as a Naseeruddin Shah or more accurately, a Sanjeev Kumar, not as the Amitabh Bachchan of Kerala.

This eternal puzzle of Mohanlal the star was not on my mind as I was randomly scrolling through reels one lazy afternoon, when I found a reel that opened my mind and led me to the answers I seeked. That reel was this:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CvxcC5ese3a/

This above is the famous A10 dancing on Malelama meme that blew the internet when it dropped, launching a new trend of syncing Indian actors dancing to different songs.

This trend owes its origin entirely to the genius behind the A10 Dancing Daily page, who in a stroke of brilliance, began posting well synced videos of A10 (Lalettan), the Mallu demigod dancing to South American hits, a poetic coincidence as both Kerala and South America are overrun by communists 🙂

It now makes sense to me why I struggled with Mohanlal; Malayali film buffs, the pseudo-intellectuals they are, eschewed Mohanlal’s wonderful grace in movement from any conversation around him, fearing that he might be perceived as just another Chiranjeevi. But how wrong they are.

Mohanlal’s grace in movement, is even more special for his girth. Big props for being such a body positivity icon. It was there in Iruvar too, but there it was mostly the sidenote, the massier films, I suspect, have this aspect as the full feature. It’s not surprising to know he was a wrestling champion before, and I’m quite sure, the kid in school who would dance at every chance.

(A10 more Jawan than King Khan)

And like a kid dancing in school, he might not have much technique, but the appeal is the sheer joy he permeates, and Mohanlal also has an unfettered lack of self consciousness while moving on screen that makes even the most ridiculous things seem fun.

(A10 the womanizer 🙂

Making the most ridiculous things seem fun, isn’t that the job description of every superstar ever. Observing Mohanlal dance made me realize the most basic thing, the great superstars are all united by one quality: the quality of impishness. Like Amitabh in a Manmohan Desai film or Rajini or Chiru or Shah Rukh, they look cool and get away with playing a fool. You look up to them and yet they seem relatable enough, that you want to be like them. Especially Mohanlal, with his effacing features.

All this thinking may be tangential and needless, an attempt to intellectualize a very enjoyable meme page. In that case, let me just add another favorite dance of mine and conclude:

(Phoonk and A10=A match made in hea-ven)