'No delays, no wasting time': Malavika Mohanan opens up on learning professionalism from Rajinikanth, Mohanlal and Vijay
ETimes | May 15, 2026 9:39 PM CST
Actress Malavika Mohanan early in her career, got the opportunity to work with some of the biggest names in the film industry, including Rajinikanth , Mohanlal , Vijay, and Dhanush. The actress recently spoke about learning discipline from them.
The ‘Hridayapoorvam’ actress says working with some of the biggest stars in South Indian cinema helped her understand true professionalism. The actress started her journey in Malayalam cinema and later became part of many popular films across industries.
What Malavika Mohanan observed on setsIn a conversation with Variety India, Malavika Mohanan said she learnt many important things just by watching them closely on film sets. According to her, discipline and respect for work are just as important as acting talent. “Some of the most senior actors that I’ve worked with, like Mohanlal, Rajinikanth and Vijay, are so disciplined. Working with them early on in my career showed me what professionalism means,” she said.
She also spoke about how seriously these stars take their work schedules. “I’ve seen them turn up for a 7 a.m. call time by 6:55 a.m. There’s no delay, no wasting production money, and that’s such an important learning for a young actor,” she said.
Malavika Mohanan talks about Thalapathy Vijay ’s disciplineAmong all the actors she worked with, Malavika Mohanan, who worked with Thalapathy Vijay in the 2021 movie ‘Master,’ shared that his punctuality impressed her a lot. She said seeing his discipline in real life changed the way she looked at film shoots and work culture.
Speaking of her work front, she was last seen in the comedy horror film, ‘The Raja Saab’ starring Prabhas. The film also marked her Telugu debut. Although the film had huge hype, it turned out to be a major box office disappointment.
She will next be seen in the Tamil film ‘ Sardar 2 ’ starring alongside Karthi.
The ‘Hridayapoorvam’ actress says working with some of the biggest stars in South Indian cinema helped her understand true professionalism. The actress started her journey in Malayalam cinema and later became part of many popular films across industries.
What Malavika Mohanan observed on setsIn a conversation with Variety India, Malavika Mohanan said she learnt many important things just by watching them closely on film sets. According to her, discipline and respect for work are just as important as acting talent. “Some of the most senior actors that I’ve worked with, like Mohanlal, Rajinikanth and Vijay, are so disciplined. Working with them early on in my career showed me what professionalism means,” she said.
She also spoke about how seriously these stars take their work schedules. “I’ve seen them turn up for a 7 a.m. call time by 6:55 a.m. There’s no delay, no wasting production money, and that’s such an important learning for a young actor,” she said.
Malavika Mohanan talks about Thalapathy Vijay ’s disciplineAmong all the actors she worked with, Malavika Mohanan, who worked with Thalapathy Vijay in the 2021 movie ‘Master,’ shared that his punctuality impressed her a lot. She said seeing his discipline in real life changed the way she looked at film shoots and work culture.
Speaking of her work front, she was last seen in the comedy horror film, ‘The Raja Saab’ starring Prabhas. The film also marked her Telugu debut. Although the film had huge hype, it turned out to be a major box office disappointment.
She will next be seen in the Tamil film ‘ Sardar 2 ’ starring alongside Karthi.
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