When Mohanlal’s directorial debut Barroz released, a Twitter user wrote, “Don’t bother to count Barroz as a movie; see it as a playful misbehavior of Lalettan.”

He wasn’t wrong.

The debut directorial effort from Malayalam cinema’s biggest star of the last 50 years was a dud, opening the floodgates of memes across the ever-unforgiving social media.

“The playful misbehavior” the user referred to is often associated with another of Kerala’s undeniable emblems: the elephant. Aana. ആന. 🐘.

Whenever an elephant goes rogue at a temple ground and tramples people, social media observers usually leave a sardonic comment: just another playful misbehavior, forgivable, naturally.

Just like the elephant, Mohanlal too seems to come with impunity.

Everyone in Kerala, apparently, is biased toward him. I mean, over the last decade or so, Mohanlal has certainly had his share of mischief.

In 2015, he was forced to apologize after his lip-sync band cut a sorry figure at the National Games opening ceremony.

Already struggling to reinvent himself at the box office since the late 2000s, six of his most ambitious projects – including his collaboration with indie-director-turned-commercial-hitmaker Lijo Jose Pellissery, Malaikottai Vaaliban – ended up fumbling badly.

As the actor became a frequent target for ruthless trolling on social media over his choice of roles, a sort of loyalist defense began to emerge from his so-called sleeper-cell fans. Don’t forget, Mohanlal is 64, stands alongside Mammootty and Prem Nazir as the most illustrious lead actor Malayalam cinema has ever produced, and is a multimillionaire.

Maybe that's the privilege of being Mohanlal. He gets unlimited chances to redeem himself, but he is not spared from mockery.

It’s also worth noting that Mohanlal, outside of his massive cinematic influence, was never quite a commanding countercultural force.

He cleverly kept his distance from politics but enthusiastically lent his voice to Narendra Modi’s demonetization drive and “collective clapping” initiative to honor frontline healthcare workers. He was soon labelled a Sangh Parivar ally by some on social media.

He’s often seen alongside the controversial self-styled godwoman, Mata Amritanandamayi.

And when AMMA, the actors' body of Malayalam cinema, was under mounting pressure over abysmal industry conditions, Mohanlal, then serving as president, appeared before the media helpless and blunt: “I don’t have any answers to any of your questions.”

In the latest and perhaps most searing incident, just days after the release of his much-anticipated film L2: Empuraan, right-wing activists blasted Mohanlal and director Prithviraj for depicting the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Mohanlal, in response, cowed under pressure and chopped 2.08 minutes from the film, making approximately 24 “involuntary” cuts.

And yet, despite it all, Mohanlal’s latest release Thudarum posted a humongous opening weekend.

Everyone I know is sharing emotional posts, celebrating the return of the “vintage” Mohanlal. For fans, it’s a relief: nothing – not the charm, not the playful mischief, not the effortless comedic timing, not even the brooding rage when provoked – has been lost, even after the rumoured Botox treatment that many feared had dulled him during the beach-whaled film Odiyan.

For fans who reinforce Mohanlal’s supremacy through YouTube video essays and fan-made IMDb rankings, often drawing lofty parallels between Mohanlal and Marlon Brando, failure is simply not an option.

Like parents nervously watching their child perform onstage for the first time, they want Mohanlal to shine every time. But they’re ready to forgive him, provided he redeems himself the next time.

For Mohanlal, known for his reclusive nature, his out-of-touch-with-planet-Earth demeanour, and his habit of experimenting without always checking whether the idea is already outdated, he’s lucky.

Lucky that he has an incomparable filmography stretching back to the 1980s, one that will forever crown him the greatest there ever was — at least, until the 90s kids finally loosen their grip on pop culture imagination.

[Opinions strictly personal.]