Mohanlal's first release in 2011 was the multi-starrer Christian Brothers, an action drama directed by Joshiy and scripted by Udayakrishna-Siby K. Thomas, in which he co-starred with Suresh Gopi, Dileep and Sarath Kumar. Released worldwide in March across 300 screens, which was the largest release for a Malayalam film at the time, this racy film was a commercial success and one of the top grossing Malayalam films of the year. His Vishu (April) release was China Town, another multi-starrer in which he co-starred with Jayaram and Dileep, which was a comedy film directed by Rafi Mecartin. Despite mixed reviews, the film ran over 100 days and became one of the highest grossing Malayalam films of the year. He starred in Pranayam, released in August, an off-beat romantic drama directed by Blessy. It was a love story between three aged characters played by Mohanlal, Anupam Kher and Jayapradha. The film was highly acclaimed by critics and Mohanlal's performance as Mathews was well appreciated. His next film Snehaveedu, was directed by Sathyan Anthikkadu,Movie Review: Snehaveedu . Sify.com. Retrieved on 6 May 2012. a family film in the background of a village in Palakkad. For the first time, actress Sheela shared screen space with Mohanlal. She played his mother. Snehaveedu is credited as his 300th film. The film was a hit. His last movie that year was Oru Marubhoomikkadha, directed by Priyadarshan, which was an action comedy thriller entirely set in the Middle East. It marked the return of the Priyadarshan-Mohanlal-Mukesh combo of the late 1980s and 90s. The film performed well at the Christmas-New Year's box office.
