3 reasons why Mohanlal is a deserved winner of 2016 Manorama Newsmaker award

Malayalam actor and four-time national ward winner, Mohanlal has won the 2016 Manorama Newsmaker award.​ The recognition is conferred annually on a public figure from Kerala who has dominated the headlines most frequently and brought some positive change in the society.

Popular writer, M Mukundan announced the winner in an event held last Sunday night. Mukundan stated that in 2016 Lalettan has influenced the Malayalam film lovers all over the world. He also added that this actor played a key role in the growth of technologies in Malayalam cinema and the award recognises his responsibilities as a public figure.

Mohanlal expressed his happiness over the prestigious recognition. The Thanmatra actor stated that he feels extremely proud to be the Newsmaker of 2016 and thanked the Malayali audience and all his mentors and friends for their love and support. Mohanlal also revealed that he had approached the Newsmaker talk show with honesty and complete sincerity.

2016 has been an eventful year for Mohanlal as the actor delivered three all-time blockbusters within a span of 60 days. His Telugu film, Janatha Garage and Malayalam films Oppam and Pulimurugan did remarkable business at the box office worldwide.

Pulimurugan went on to become the first Rs. 100 crore Malayalam grosser. The actor managed to beat Rajinikanth and Shah Rukh Khan to become the fourth Indian actor of 2016 with highest grossing collections last year.

Mohanlal grabbed the headlines in 2016 in personal capacity as well. The actor through his blog had openly expressed his opinions on several national issues last year, including demonetisation and national anthem which helped him to become the most searched Kerala public figure of 2016.

The Newsmaker 2016 award was chosen through an online polling and SMS. Indian Hockey team captain P.R. Sreejesh, Kerala State Finance minister Dr. Thomas Issac and BJP MLA O. Rajagopal were the final contenders for this award.