Lal was born as Michael to the late M. A. Paul and late Philomina, as their eldest son. He received his schooling at St. Augustine's High School, Ernakulam. His brother Alex Paul is a music composer in the Malayalam film industry and his son Jean is a movie director in the same industry. Lal's younger sister Neena's son Balu Varghese is an actor in the Malayalam film industry.
Siddique-Lal production had never been dependent on star value or superstar formula that was witnessed in those days in Malayalam cinema. They had always opted out from casting Mohanlal or Mammootty. Ultimately, both of them had changed their thoughts later and when their fourth production film was to get launched, Siddique-Lal had opted for Mohanlal and made Vietnam Colony (1992) which did wonders in the box office too. The duo again had combined in their fifth production and made Kabooliwala (1994), which was also a success.
Lal, who also plays an important role in Sulthan (2021) and also heaped praise on Mari Selvaraj for Karnan (2021).[8] Despite being given the most uni-dimensional character in the story Taanakkaran (2022), the actor effortlessly carries the role and leaves arguably more impact than in his previous outing.[9] He roped in to play the role of a warrior in Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan: I (2022) and Ponniyin Selvan: II (2023).[10]