He was our 'sundara kuttappan’: Suchitra on Mohanlal’s secret nickname at home

Superstar Mohanlal's wife, Suchitra Mohanlal, recently opened up about how she fell in love with him and eventually married him. She shared that Mohanlal won her heart ever since she watched his movies in theatres in Kozhikode. When discussions about marriage began, she confessed to her mother that she admired actor Mohanlal. In an interview with Rekha Menon, Suchitra revealed that it was actress Sukumari who helped initiate the marriage proposal to Mohanlal.

Reflecting on their first encounter, Suchitra said, “I first saw chettan (Mohanlal) in Thiruvananthapuram. Our family has a close connection with producer Murukan Mama’s (Visakh Subramaniam's father) family, and they would stay at our house whenever they came to Chennai. I met Chettan for the first time at Murukan Mama’s wedding in Thiruvananthapuram. He was wearing a maroon shirt that day. Before that, I had only seen him on screen.”

She reminisced about her movie-going days, saying, “I used to watch his films in theatres on holidays in Kozhikode. The first movie I saw of his was 'Manjil Virinja Pookkal'. At the time, I didn’t particularly like him, but from that movie onward, I realised how talented an actor he is.”

Suchitra then shared how she confessed her admiration to her family. “When my mother and aunt began discussing marriage proposals for me, I told them I had someone in mind. They asked who, and I said he was from Thiruvananthapuram. They assumed it was someone else, but I clarified that it was him. I suggested that my father speak to Sukumari Aunty since she had worked with him. My father approached Sukumari Aunty, who then helped us connect with him, paving the way for our marriage.”

Recounting her early gestures of affection, she added, “Back then, I used to buy and send him cards without signing my name. He didn’t know they were from me, but eventually, he figured it out. He once told me, ‘I figured it out.’ I would send at least five cards daily, tracking his whereabouts and sending cards there. I was genuinely stalking him. At home, we even had a code word for him: ‘SKP,’ short for Sundara Kuttappan (Handsome Boy). I’m not sure if he knows about it,” shared Suchitra with a laugh.