Padmashri Mammootty: The superstar and the man

Submitted by prasanna prabhu on Sun, 2007-02-11 09:28. Movies

Padmashri Mammootty (also called Mamootty , mammooty ) was born on September 7, 1953 to Ismail and Fatima at Chempu village near Vaikom. His father was basically an agriculturist. His big family consists of two younger brothers, Ibrahim and Zakariah, and three sisters, Ameena, Sauda and Shafina. His true name was Muhammed Kutty.

A lawyer by qualification, Mammootty has always wanted to be an actor. He received his education from Maharaja's College, Ernakulam and then studied law at Ernakulam Government Law College. It was during his early days at Maharajah college that he got his first role in Anubhavangal Paalichakal (1971). He practised as a lawyer in Manjeri, Kerala for 2 years. He got married in 1980 to Sulfath and has a daughter, Surmi and a son, Dulquar Salman. His first film chance came on the sixth day of his marriage. So he is having strong belief that his marriage prospired his life. His wife not only take the right of suggesting about his work but also gives a severe critic of his performances which he humbly accepts.

He has acted in more than three hundred films, most of them in Malayalam cinema. It was his childhood dream to act in a movie, become a great star, and earn the love and respect of the people of his land, his country and the whole world. Probably that desire started with the first movie he saw. It was not an impulse but a burning spirit, which had made him a megastar. His belief is a good actor can bring about some changes in society, inducing the people to rethink their attitude, lifestyle or the whole of society itself. He believes that an actor lives the burning moments of life of a citizen on screen, and the audience may role model the character thus presented. Hence a little thoughtlessness can spoil not just the acting but also the life of the masses. So he takes great care with every role of his.

His entry into film industry was late but still Mamootty is the only second star after Prem Nazir to complete 300 films as the hero in Malayalam. Mammootty reached this peak as he completed his latest film with Renjith titled Kaiyoppu. Mammooty also holds the rare distinction of appearing as hero in an astonishing 35 movies released in a single year, 1986, which exceeded only by Prem Nazir who acted in 39 movies as hero released during 1979. Unique thing that makes Mammootty separate from his contemporaries is the fact that from the beginning itself, he has been able to treat both art cinema and commercial movies with ease. It was his acting talents coupled with his willingness to go to any extent to rationally portray the roles that helped him to put his one leg in commercial movies and other in art movies and still always made success.

His first film as an actor, Devalokam was not released in theatres. It was the famous writer M. T. Vasudevan Nair and veteran director K. G. George played an important part in blooming his career. His talent was noticed in films like Vilkanundu Swapnangal directed by M T Vasudevan Nair and films like Mela and Yavanika, by K.G George.

Mammootty is the recipient of four National Awards, five State awards and five Filmfare awards in the "best actor" category. He was also awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1998. He is called as the Super Star of Malayalam Cinema along with Mohanlal. He is rated as one of the talented actors in Indian film industry.

He made his mark during the early period of his career itself by acting roles in films of very talented directors like M. T. Vasudevan Nair, K.G. George, Padmarajan, P.N. Menon, and Bharathan. Later on recognising his talent, he was utilised by internationally renowned directors like Adoor Gopalakrishnan, T. V. Chandran, and Pavithran.

The film New Delhi directed by Joshy was a turning point in his career. The film was based on the novel, "The Almighty" by Irving Wallace. His portrayal of a victimised journalist, who systematically took revenge on politicians who flattered him, was noticed and well accepted by the masses.Thereafter he gave series of super hits. Oru CBI Diary Kurippu was also a major landmark in the history of Malayalam Cinema. Without even a single song or dance, Oru CBI Diary kurippe went on to create box-office history in Kerala It brought a new concept of an investigative thriller namely Jaagrutha (1989), Sethurama Iyer CBI (2004) and Nerariyan C.B.I (2005), all directed by K Madhu, with Mamootty as Sethurama Iyer, which was an efficient and fresh presentation. All the films went on to create box-office history in Kerala. Mammootty touched higher peak of his career in Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha, an M.T Vasudevan Nair’s creation in which he portrayed as a man of distinguished courage which won him the top honors of the country, National Award for best acting. After his first national award, he made it almost a habit of winning the national awards.

Mammootty had also acted in other languages like Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films apart from Malayalam. His greatest hits in Tamil film industry was Thalapathi, which was co- stared by the Superstar Rajinikant and directed by the famoous Mani Ratnam followed by Anandam by Linguswamy and Kandukondain Kandukondain by Rajiv Menon. However,he could not be successful in hindi film industry initially, when his first film Dhartiputra went unnoticed. But later when Mammootty, made his presence felt on the national level with the biographical film on Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Directed by Jabbar Patel.

Critics go hand in hand with a celebrity, so as for Mammooty. He has been criticised for not performing well in comic rolls but his latest movies Rajamanikyam, Thommanum Makkalum, and Thuruppugulan gave a reply to these critics. Mammootty, though a superstar, is an exception in Indian films where dancing skills have to be a necessary part. Because the emotion and the depth that he potrays makes him a great actor.

He strongly believes both men and women are separate individuals. And yet, both need each other in their lives. There need not be competition between women and men, rather both should join together and fight for a better life. He admires Indira Gandhi. And Kamala Das. He is proud of Kerala women, because they are very aware and understanding the life.

Achievements:

It is believed to be the first time in the banking history in south India, Mammootty was appointed as brand ambassador by Kerala-based South Indian Bank on 16 October 2006. The Bank chairman said this was taking into consideration the huge following Mammootty enjoys among the NRIs and his image as a clean, pan-Indian actor.

He is the Patron of the Pain and Palliative Care Society, a charitable organization in Kerala formed with the aim of improving the quality of life among patients with advanced cancer.

Akshaya, the prestigious Information Technology dissemination project of the Government of Kerala, has Mammootty as the star campaigner. He formally took over as the Goodwill Ambassador of Akshaya on February 26 at a video networked programme which was linked to all the district headquarters of the state. Mammootty will take up the responsibility of heading a campaign by appearing in print and visual media advertisements and other publicity materials that will send the message of Akshaya to the grassroots.

"Mathilukal has been shown in almost 40 international film festivals beginning with Venice. Among his films, it is Mathilukal which has invited the maximum number of internaional honours.
Mammootty is known to be close to the CPI-M. He is also the chairman of Kairali television channel in which the CPI-M has a high stake. So, Mamooty has been called for one of the three Rajya Sabha seats from Kerala during June 26 elections by CPI -M. However, Mammootty denied any such possibility.

He recently published a book Kazhchapadu a compilation of articles he had penned for a column in the largest ciruclated Malayalam newspaper Malayala Manorama. M.T.Vasudevan Nair the senior of Malayalam writers and a personal friend of Mammootty released the book published by Current Books, Trichur to C.V. Sreeraman.

His remarks during the 2006 IIFA Awards ceremony held at Dubai had gained a lot of media and public attention. He openly criticised the organisers of the IIFA awards for completely ignoring South Indian films. Mammootty suggested that the Bollywood film industry stand up to competition from the South Indian film industry before calling itself international. Take into account that South Indians have won 14 out of 26 National Film Awards over that many years (Mammootty has himself won it thrice, Amitabh Bachchan once, Shahrukh Khan never!) and that a significant number of Hindi films are remakes of successful South Indian films — Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam. And these include all old record-breaking Telugu and Tamil remakes. He boldly made comments like, Indian cinema is not just Bollywood, and Hindi is not the only language. Why should our films be called South Indian cinema instead of being under the banner of Indian films?
» add new comment | 918 reads