When Mohanlal wore a necklace, he wore vulnerability and dismantled gender norms

Time of India

2 days ago

In a groundbreaking advertisement, veteran Malayalam actor Mohanlal challenges traditional gender norms by adorning himself with jewellery. The ad, by Vinsmera Jewels, showcases Mohanlal's comfort and joy in wearing the pieces, defying conventional portrayals of masculinity. This bold move has sparked widespread praise, prompting conversations about redefining masculinity and embracing personal expression.
For generations, jewellery ads have followed a rigid script. The camera pans over a glowing bride-to-be, her bangles chiming in slow motion, her smile shy yet radiant. It's always a woman, sometimes a mother, sometimes a lover but never anyone else.
Jewellery was not just an adornment; it was a symbol of femininity, a tradition passed from mother to daughter. Men, meanwhile, remained bystanders in these stories - buyers, gifters, rarely wearers. Until now.
— bambbhlight (@bambbhlight)
In a quietly revolutionary new ad by a leading jewellery brand from Kerala, veteran actor Mohanlal changes the narrative. Without lofty proclamations or performative statements, the ad opens with a simple scene: Mohanlal, amidst the hustle of a shoot, is drawn to a jewellery set.
Noticing it, admiring it. Then, slipping away with it, not to gift it to someone else, but to wear it himself.
Inside his vanity van, he adorns himself with the necklace, bracelet, and ring. Clad in a simple shirt and trousers, he pairs the ornate pieces with unfiltered delight. The music rises, his movements soften, and he begins to dance - graceful, mischievous, free. When the director bursts in looking for the 'missing' jewellery, Mohanlal just laughs - not embarrassed, not explaining, just basking in his moment.
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And it's magical.
Masculinity that shimmers
What makes this moment so powerful is not just what's happening, but who it's happening to. This is Mohanlal, the legendary star of Malayalam cinema, a symbol of rugged masculinity and complex characters for over four decades. He has played fearless warriors, upright policemen, broken poets, and flawed men with heartbreaking honesty. He's an icon, especially in a culture that still clings tightly to its ideas of what a man should look and behave like.
So when someone like Mohanlal chooses to wear jewellery - not for humour, not in drag, not to mock femininity, but with sincerity and joy, it lands differently. It isn't performative or niche. It's an invitation to rethink, to unlearn.
And it hits home
Fans flooded the comment section with praise, calling it 'brilliant', 'graceful', and 'unlike anything we've seen before'. 'He's embracing his feminine energy,' wrote one fan. 'Only Mohanlal can carry both masculinity and femininity with such ease,' said another.
Many noted how such a portrayal would have been unimaginable years ago. 'It takes a real man to do this,' someone rightly observed.
But perhaps we shouldn't have to say 'real man' at all. Perhaps that idea itself needs redefinition.
Jewellery is not gendered. We made it so
If you travel through time, you'll find that kings wore earrings, warriors wore kohl, and gods wore elaborate necklaces. In many cultures, men wearing jewellery was neither strange nor subversive, it was the norm.
It is colonial morality, patriarchal discomfort, and hypermasculine modernity that have made softness in men something to fear, mock, or correct.
Today, a man choosing a floral ring or wearing a pastel kurta is still considered 'bold' or 'different'. We raise our sons telling them pink is for girls, jewellery is 'too feminine', and emotions must be buried, not worn on sleeves or ears, or fingers. In doing so, we rob them of not just freedom of expression, but of beauty. And why? What are we so afraid of?
Mohanlal, with one simple gesture, reminds us that masculinity can be adorned.
That there is strength in vulnerability. That beauty does not threaten identity.
The cultural reset we didn't know we needed
This ad isn't just a clever marketing move. It's a cultural moment. A mirror held up to our biases, a gentle challenge to the binaries we've accepted for too long. It doesn't scream for attention, it simply is. And that's what makes it so moving.
Mohanlal's quiet confidence, his joy in the jewels, his refusal to justify, it gives others permission too.
Young boys watching might feel less alone in their desire to try on their mother's earrings. Grown men might reconsider what they've denied themselves for years. It opens a door, just a crack, for more stories to come through, ones where gender isn't a prison, but a palette.
Jewellery is for everyone
Fashion has always been political. What we wear tells a story about who we are, or who we wish to be. And when someone like Mohanlal chooses to tell a story where jewellery is not bound by gender, where masculinity can shimmer without shame, it's not just stylish. It's powerful.
Jewellery is for everyone. Let's stop acting like it isn't.