Superstar Mohanlal's daughter Vismaya: Dad likes engaging with all art forms

Vismaya Mohanlal

Vismaya Mohanlal has been making a regular appearance on celebrity social media timelines these days. Daughter of Malayalam cinema's superstar Mohanlal, who is currently being lauded for his performance in Drishyam 2, Vismaya has just released her new book, Grains of Stardust (Penguin Random House), a "synesthetic stream of consciousness" work, comprising poetry and art. And the film industry is all praise. Where Amitabh Bachchan gave a shout out, tweeting that "talent is hereditary," Dulquer Salmaan described the work as a "wonderful insight into her mind, her growing up and life experiences". Mohanlal, proud father that he is, even penned a warm foreword for the book. "I was reminded of [traditional Japanese haiku exponent Matsuo] Basho, while reading some of Vismaya's poems. I found in them a strange expression of thought reflecting feeling more than meaning…" he wrote. "My dad did write a beautiful foreword," admits Vismaya in an email interview. "At first, I was reluctant to have a foreword, but after reading what he wrote, I think it made the book complete. My father does read a lot and he writes well, mostly in Malayalam," the 26-year-old shares.

Art, movies and literature were, in fact, a mainstay at home. "I think art inspires art. If you come home, you'll see artworks all around. Dad loves collecting paintings and engaging with all art forms and my brother writes a lot of poetry and music too," she says. Her mother Suchitra, on the other hand, encouraged them to read, giving them books instead of toys. "I also went to a boarding school for most of my school life and as we didn't have phones or gadgets for entertainment, we'd use our imagination. I think all of it subconsciously influenced me," she adds.

Grains of Stardust, she says, was created at different points in her life. "Some [poems] were typed out on my phone, some I wrote when I was looking at one of my own drawings or at nature. Some came to me while I listened to a beat I liked, I'd sing over it and write down the phrases that I liked," she says, adding, "[But] I honestly don't remember [when I started writing or drawing]. I have many journals that I've kept over the years."

In 2018, when browsing through some old diaries and sketchbooks, her actor brother, Pranav, suggested she put it all together. "He's the real poet of the family and I keep telling him that he should publish a book. That's why I say that this was all so accidental, because it just came together unexpectedly. I didn't put it together with the intention of publishing it."

In the book, her art and poetry lingers on the personal and imagined. In some of her works, the sky becomes her canvas, and the stars and galaxy an inspiration for her verse. Often, she turns inward, describing her mind "as an abstracting painting," and her thoughts one with "no beginning… moving around circles." Love, longing, introspection and loss, are recurring themes, but Vismaya doesn't believe in defining or bracketing her writing. "I will let the reader make of it what they will."
Her drawings, she says, follow a similar trajectory, emerging out of randomness. "I find the process, the experimenting, the discovering, more fulfilling and personally speaking, just as important as the end result."

Like many star kids, acting has been at the back of her mind, and it is something that she is working towards. Last year, she joined a Muay Thai camp in Koh Samui, Thailand, shedding 22 kg. "It was honestly one of the best decisions I made for myself. In addition to the training, the environment was perfect… all the people I met there were warm and genuinely kind." As for her literary career, Vismaya says she will continue to write and draw. "And if something were to come out of that, then I shall continue."