He founded the ViswaSanthi Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization, to create and deliver high-impact and focused programs to the underprivileged sections of society in the areas of healthcare and education.

Mohanlal played his first comic lead role in an ensemble cast in the 1984 comedy Poochakkoru Mookkuthi, directed by Priyadarshan, as a young man in love with a girl whom he mistakenly believes to be rich.

During this period, Mohanlal played very different roles in films "made by the great masters", such as G. Aravindan, Hariharan, M. T. Vasudevan Nair, Padmarajan, Bharathan and Lohithadas.

Mohanlal was given the status of a new Malayalam superstar by the public after the box office success of Rajavinte Makan (1986), in which he played an underworld don, Vincent Gomez.

[34] Mohanlal won a Kerala State Special Jury Award in 1988 for his acting in Padamudra, Aryan, Vellanakalude Nadu, Ulsavapittennu and Chithram.

[39] In 1989, the combination of the writer Lohitha Das and director Sibi Malayil created the character Sethumadhavan, a person who dreams of becoming a police officer, but ends up as a criminal, in the tragedy Kireedam.

"[36] In the same year, he acted in a film which became a commercial success, Varavelpu, which tells the story of a man who earned money working in the Gulf and came back home to enjoy his life with his family.

In 1996, Mohanlal starred in Priyadarshan's Kaalapani, an epic film about the prisoners in the Cellular Jail of Port Blair and Lohithadas's Kanmadam (1998).

[51] Mohanlal depicted a Kathakali artist whose personal life is a tragedy in the 1999 Indo-French period drama Vanaprastham, produced by him and directed by Shaji N. Karun.

[57] In the next two years, Mohanlal was typecasted in similar larger-than-life action hero roles in films such as Ravanaprabhu (2001), Praja (2001), Onnaman (2002), Thandavam (2002) and Chathurangam (2002).

Except for Ravanaprabhu, these films were widely criticised for their repetitive plots, lewd dialogues, punch lines and male chauvinistic outlook.

The Hindu noted that the actor is "at his natural best" and "does not look stifled or anxious as other South Indian stars do when they appear in a Hindi movie for the first time".

[63] The following year, Mohanlal, trying to change his action hero image,[64] returned to comedic roles with Kilichundan Mampazham, Balettan, Hariharan Pillai Happy Aanu and Mr. Brahmachari.

[67] Mohanlal played Athanipparambil Balachandran, a bank employee always willing to lend a helping hand to others, who is forced to hide many secrets after his father's death leading to his family's mistrust.

Oru Naal Varum, directed by T. K Rajeev Kumar, scripted by Sreenivasan and produced by Maniyanpilla Raju, was a social satire about corruption in India.

Mohanlal's first release in 2011 was the multi-starrer Christian Brothers, an action drama directed by Joshiy and scripted by Udayakrishna-Siby K. Thomas, in which he co-starred with Suresh Gopi, Dileep and Sarath Kumar.

[81] His Vishu (April) release was China Town, another multi-starrer in which he co-starred with Jayaram and Dileep, which was a comedy film directed by Rafi Mecartin.

[93] The year ended with the Christmas release Karmayodha, directed by Major Ravi, an action thriller in which he played Mad Maddy, an encounter specialist who is assigned to investigate the disappearance of a teenage school girl in Mumbai.

[110] He starred in Aaraattu, produced and directed by B. Unnikrishnan and released in theatres on 18 February 2022 to a mixed response and low box office returns.

[32] Kadhayattam was a presentation enacted by Mohanlal, performing ten classic characters and situations from Malayalam literature, selected from ten Malayalam novels written by O. Chandu Menon, C. V. Raman Pillai, S. K. Pottekkatt, Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, P. Kesavadev, Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, Uroob, O. V. Vijayan, M. Mukundan, and M. T. Vasudevan Nair over a 100-year period.

The play, directed by T. K. Rajeev Kumar premiered at the Senate Hall of University of Kerala on 1 November 2003, and later was staged in Kozhikode, Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi.

[134] In July 2010, LG Electronics India enlisted Mohanlal for the endorsement of the brand's Onam festival offers for Kerala customers lasting till September 2010.

[137] In September 2013, the direct-broadcast satellite television provider Tata Sky announced Mohanlal as its brand endorser for its Kerala market.

[140] In May 2016, as part of expanding its market to the South Indian audience, the entertainment company Hotstar, which is a platform for streaming media and video on demand, announced Mohanlal as its brand ambassador for its Malayalam contents.

[144] He owns restaurants in India and overseas, including a chain in Dubai called Mohanlal's Tastebuds, established in 2002, and a spices, pickles, condiments, and curry powder brand with the same name launched in February 2004 in the Middle East.

In 2008, Mohanlal underwent 18 months of covert escape artist training under magician Gopinath Muthukad to perform a stunt called the "Burning Illusion" in Thiruvananthapuram.

Director I. V. Sasi remarked that even Prem Nazir never had the popularity of Mohanlal and Mammootty, who possess "a rare and right mixture of charisma and acting ability".

The Hindu wrote that "Malayalam cinema revolves around them and scripts are written keeping their age and image in mind", they played larger-than-life characters with distinctive style of attire, dialogues, dance, and fight sequences.

[174] In 2012, the forest department filed a case against Mohanlal under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 for possessing elephant tusks discovered during an income tax raid at his home.

[182] He also owns houses in Chennai, his hometown Thiruvananthapuram, Ooty,[183] Mahabalipuram, a villa in Arabian Ranches and a flat in the Burj Khalifa at Dubai.