KOCHI: Mohan is a director who captivated the audience with different themes and rough characters in the 70s and 80s, when Malayalam cinema flourished. Mohan became famous with many films that Malayali had never seen or heard before. A Mohan touch was hidden in all those films.

Mohan gave priority to the story and characters over stardom. The theme of his first film 'Randu Penkuttikal' was same-sex love that no one dared to explore back then. The much-talked-about film gained attention in other languages also. The second film 'Shalini Ente Koottukari' took campuses and youth by storm.

He had no qualms about casting Gopi, Nedumudi Venu and Venu Nagavalli as heroes. Mohan's faith was in the strength of the character and the acting excellence of the actor. Sukumaran and Nedumudi Venu played lead roles in most of Mohan's films. Mohanlal played lead in 'Mukham' and Mammootty in 'Oru Katha Oru Nunakkatha'.

Hit songs are another feature of Mohan movies. His films were enriched with music by geniuses like Devarajan, Johnson, MB Srinivasan and Ilayaraja. The song 'Nin Thumbu Kettiyitta Churul Mudiyil' and 'Himashaila Saikatha Bhoomiyil' from Shalini Ente Koottukari written by MD Rajendran and composed by Devarajan are still sung by Malayalees.

He has said that he wants to make films without any collaboration. Even when he created hits with John Paul, there was often no repeated collabs. Mohan had mentioned that he gave roles to Nedumudi Venu because he felt that he would play many of his characters well. Mohan was of the opinion that Vida Parayum Munpe, in which Venu played the main role, was his best film.