M.P Michael, popularly known as Lal, is an actor, director, screenwriter and distributor. He started his career as a mimicry artist, then stepped into the Malayalam film industry in 1985 working as an assistant director with director Fazil. He first debuted as an actor in 1994, with a cameo appearance for the film Manathe Kottaram, over the years he has been part of over 135 films. He has also directed around 10 movies by himself and some with his friend Siddique as Siddique-Lal.
Lal received National Film Award Special Mention for Acting for his performance in the movie Ozhimuri (2012 ). He also won the Kerala State Film Award for the Best Actor twice.
He was born to Philomina Paul and M.A Paul. He has a brother, Alex Paul. He is married to Nancy Paul and the couple has two children Jean Paul Lal and Monica Paul. Jean is a director in the Malayalam film industry.
Siddique-Lal combo made so many successful movies from the 1980s. They had their own style of creating the success formula, which was independent of any superstars. They also did superstar movies which turned out to be box office successes.
