Mammootty

Mammootty : Biography

Mammootty born Muhammed Kutty on September 17, 1953 to Fatima And Ismail in Chempu near Vaikom, Kottayam district, Kerala is one of the most popular film actors in the history of Malayalam films. He has acted in more than three hundred movies, most of them in Malayalam. He also acted in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. He is one of those rare actors who has been successful in both mainstream and parallel cinema. Along with Mohanlal he was the most prominent leading male actor of Malayalam movies through the 80's. He has won thrice the prestigious Bharat Award , the Indian national award for best actor .
He grew up with his two younger brothers Ibrahim and Zakariah; and three sisters, Ameena, Sauda and Shafina. He did his high school (pre-degree) at Maharaja's College, Ernakulam and then studied law at Ernakulam Government Law College. It was during his days at Maharajah's that he got his first role a bit part in the film Anubhavangal Paalichakal in 1971. He practised as a lawyer in Manjeri for 2 years. He got married in 1980 to Sulfaath. He has a daughter, Surmi (b. 1982) and a son, Dulquar Salman (1986).

Mammootty : Career

Although a lawyer by qualification, Mammootty always wanted to be an actor. His entry into filmdom was rather late. As bad luck would have it, his first film, Devalokam ('World of Gods'), never saw the light of the day. None other than the colossal figure in Malayalam cinema M. T. Vasudevan Nair discovered him and it was veteran director K. G. George who brought up Mammootty as an actor. Initially, K G George's films like Yavanika('Curtain'), and Valarthumrigangal('Pets'), and Vilkanunde Swapnangal ('Dreams for sale') made him noticeable.
Mammootty's career graph is dotted with highs and lows. His career saw a spectacular rise after the release of the film New Delhi directed by Joshi. This film was based on the story, "Almighty" by Irving Wallace. It heralded the arrival of Mammootty the super star. His performance as a victimized journalist, who systematically took revenge on politicians who beguiled him, caught the imagination of many in the film world. Thereafter he acted in a series of super hits, only to remain low for sometime afterwards. Apart from the heroic roles he enacted in pure commercial films, Mammootty was fortunate to have got the chances to portray the roles of M.T.Vasudevan Nair's characters.M. T. Vasudevan Nair 's films like Aalkootathil Thaniye ('Alone in the crowd') catapulted him to a new realm of stardom.
Then came his 'Oru CBI Diary kurippe'('A CBI diary entry'), which some observers of malayalam films say was a landmark. It brought to fore a new concept of villainy, fresh presentation of politicians and above all a refreshing idea of hero. Without even a single song or dance number, Oru CBI Diary kurippe went on to create box-office history in Kerala. For all these, a large portion of credit goes to Mammootty for his enactment of the role of an upright CBI officer and his immaculate ways of unfolding the secrets of a murder shrouded in mystery. His theatrical representation of a Tamil Brahmin CBI (Mammootty being a muslim) officer became a topic of household discussion in Kerala. The film carved itself a niche in the heart of Keralites, so that three more films (Jaagratha (1989),Sethurama Iyer CBI (2004)and Nerariyan C.B.I (2005){All directed by K Madhu } starring Mammootty as Sethurama Iyer, the CBI officer, were received very well.This in itself is a record of sorts in the Malayalam film industry, with four movies with the same lead character (a la James Bond).
Mammootty touched higher pinnacles of his career in Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha (roughly translated as 'A northern folklore'), again a M. T. Vasudevan Nair creation. His depiction of a 'Chekavan'(Usually a person of a warrior clan who would fight for a king or other nobles of the land) of distinguished valor but vilified by circumstances won him the top honours of the country, National Award for best acting. His histrionics matched the literary genius of M T. It was his acting talent, coupled with his willingness to go to any extent to rationally portray the roles, that helped enabled him to act in both offbeat and commercial movies and other in art movies, and yet not fall flat. Mammootty became almost a regular face in Adoor Gopalakrishnan's films. He starred in three of his movies, Anantharam('Thenceforth'), Mathilukkal('Walls') and Vidheyan ('The Subservient one'). The easiness with which he illustrated on screen the protagonist in Mathilukkal(based on Mathilukal,a novel by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer) was also instrumental in winning his first National award for best acting. His performance in a commercially off-beat movie, Ponthan Mada, and Adoor Gopalakrishnan's 'Vidheyan' won him the award for the second time. His performance in "Ambedkar", a hindi movie by Jabbar Patel, won him the National award for a third time. He is also a recipient of Padma Shri , one of the topmost civilian awards in India .
In between, he had crossed the boundaries of Malayalam cinema and acted in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films. Though he proved a success in Tamil after Mani Ratnam 's Dalapati and continues to shine in Tamil films. However, his maiden Hindi film, Dhartiputra went unnoticed. But his national presence was once again felt after Jabbar Patel's Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar.
However, he has been criticized for his inability to do comedies. But his latest movies like raajamanikkam, thommanum makkalum, thuruppugulan etc proved that he is great in doing comedy roles. Also, his dancing skills are considered poor by even his most fervent fans. But the emotion and the depth that he lends to his characters make him a well revered actor.