Mammootty
Padmashri Dr. Mammootty
Born	Muhammad Kutty September 7, 1953 (1953-09-07) (age 55) Chempu, Vaikom, Kottayam, Kerala, India
Other name(s)	Mammookka, Mammoose
Occupation	film actor, producer, Media Chairman
Years active	1971-Present
Spouse(s)	Sulfath Mammootty
Filmfare Awards Best Actor 1984 Adiyozhukkukal 1985 Yathra, Nirakkoottu 1990 Mathilukal 1991 Amaram 1997 Bhoothakkannadi 2001 Arayannagalude Veedu 2004 Kaazhcha 2006 Karutha Pakshikal Filmfare Legend Award (2007) National Film Awards Best Actor 1990 Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha, Mathilukal 1994 Vidheyan, Ponthan Mada 1999 Dr. Ambedkar Other awards State Best Supporting Actor 1981 Ahimsa State Special Award 1985 Yathra State Best Actor 1984 Adiyozhukkukal 1989 OVVG, Mrigaya, Mahayanam 1993 Vidheyan, Ponthan Mada, Valtsalyam 2004 Kaazhcha

Mammootty (born Pannaparambil Muhammad Kutty on September 7, 1953 ^[1]) is an award winning Indian film actor. During a career spanning more than quarter of a century, he has acted in more than 300 films as the lead actor in Malayalam movies, a distinction he shares with Prem Nazir.^[2] Mammootty is considered by many critics to be one of the finest actors in Indian cinema who excels in both art and commercial films.^[3]

Mammootty received many major awards for his performance. These include three National awards, four State awards and eight Filmfare Awards in the best actor category. He is the only actor apart from Kamal Haasan to win National Film Award for Best Actor three times. In 1998, the Government of India honored him with Padma Shri for his outstanding contributions to Indian cinema.

Mammootty is also the Chairman of Malayalam Communications, which runs popular Malayalam TV channels like Kairali TV, People TV and We TV.^[4] After a survey among its readers, Vanitha magazine selected Mammootty as the actor with the most sex appeal.^[5] Mammootty has promoted humanitarian causes throughout Kerala, and he is the Goodwill Ambassador of the Akshaya project

Family and early life

Mammooty was born in Chempu, near Vaikom in Kottayam, India in a middle class Muslim family to Ismail, an agriculturist, and Fatima, a housewife. Along with his siblings he grew up in Chempu, Vaikom. During his school life he was involved in sports and arts. He received his education from the Maharajas College, Kochi, and then studied law at Ernakulam Government Law College. He also practiced law for two years in Manjeri. He married Sulfath in 1980 and has a daughter, Surumi and a son, Dulquar Salman

Acting career

[edit] Early career, 1971-1980

Mammootty's first screen appearance was in 1971 in Anubhavangal Paalichakal, directed by K. S. Sethumadhavan. However his role was uncredited.^[7] He was a student at the Maharajas College then. In 1973, he got another role in Kalachakram, a Prem Nazir movie directed by K. Narayanan.

His professional film career began in 1979, when he played his first lead role in Devalokam,^[8] directed by vetaran M. T. Vasudevan Nair. However, this film was never released

Breakthrough, 1980s

Vilkanundu Swapnangal, written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair and directed by M. Azad was Mammootty's first notable film. His roles in films like Mela where he played a Circus artist, and Thrishna , directed by I.V. Sasi got him noticed. His first superhit film as a hero was Thrishna, released in 1981. After the success of Thrishna, Mammootty and I.V. Sasi together created many hits such as Aavanazhi and Inspector Balram.

The role of a police officer in the investigative thriller Yavanika (1982) directed by K. G. George cemented his position as a hero in Malayalam cinema. The film was a big commercial success and Mammootty's role got rave reviews for its style and dialogue delivery. This was the beginning of a trend whereby Mammootty would play the role of a tough cop in many action and investigative thrillers in the coming years.^[9]

In 1981, he got his first award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Ahimsa

New realms of stardom

The period 1982-1984 saw Mammootty evolve into a commercially viable hero in mainstream Malayalam cinema, Padmarajan’s Koodevide and Joshy’s Aa Raathri were highly successful in the box office. His performances in films like Aalkootathil Thaniye and Adiyozhukkukal, scripted by M.T.Vasudevan Nair established him as an actor of substance. Mammooty was noted for his controlled acting, never crossing the limits, and his presentation of M. T.’s dialogues, which were always pregnant with meaning.^[10].

In a period of five years from 1982 to 1986 Mammootty acted in more than 150 films as the hero.^[11] During this period, Mammooty managed the rare distinction of appearing as the hero in an astonishing 35 movies released in a single year, 1986.

His role as Karunan in Adiyozhukkukal directed by I.V. Sasi, written by M. T. got him the Best Actor State Award and Filmfare Award . Mammootty won the State special jury award and best actor Filmfare award for Yathra directed by Balu Mahendra. The film proved to be one of the best in Mammootty's career. In 1985, his role as Ravi Varma in Nirakkoottu, directed by Joshy, penned by Dennis Joseph got much acclaim and also created box office history

Career slump, mid 1980s

For a short while during mid 80's, Mammooty saw a decline in his career. Many of his films during this period saw him portraying very stereotypical roles as a familyman or a businessman

Regaining stardom, 1987

Mammootty made a comeback with New Delhi and Thaniyavarthanam, both released in 1987. New Delhi was a very important movie in his life as an actor.^[12] The film was loosely based on the novel, "The Almighty" by Irving Wallace.^[13] His portrayal of a victimized journalist, who systematically took revenge on politicians who flattered him, was noticed and well accepted by the masses. Meanwhile, his role as Balan mash in Thaniyavarthanam, written by Lohithadas and directed by Sibi Malayil, was critically acclaimed

ra of superhits, 1987-1996

In 1988 Mammootty delivered one of the biggest hits in the history of Malayalam Cinema with his Oru CBI Diary Kurippu. Oru CBI Diary Kurippu went on to create box-office history in Kerala as well as in Tamil Nadu. Mammootty's role as a CBI officer in this film got him critical acclaim. Following the success of the first CBI film Oru CBI Diary Kurippu, three more murder mystery sequels were produced with the same cast of characters: Jagratha (1989), Sethurama Iyer CBI (2004) and Nerariyan C.B.I (2005), all directed by K Madhu, penned by S.N. Swamy with Mammootty as Sethurama Iyer, an intelligent but unassuming CBI officer. The films by M.T. Vasudevan Nair and Padmarajan, arguably among the best of Malayalam writer-directors, widened Mammootty's acting horizon. Two of M.T. Vasudevan Nair’s films with autobiographical elements were acted by Mammootty. One was Aksharangal directed by I.V. Sasi and the other was Sukrutham directed by Harikumar.

Mammootty touched the pinnacle of his career in Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha; the film was directed by T.Hariharan and penned by M.T.Vasudevan Nair. His depiction of a Chekavar (mercenary warrior) of distinguished valor but vilified by circumstances won him the National Film Award for Best Actor. Along with the huge commercial success of the film, Mammooty was given rave reviews about his lead role in the film, which required heavy physical and phsychological preparations. Mammootty's performance in Mathilukal directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan was also considered for the award. His role as a hunter Varunni in Mrugaya, directed by I.V. Sasi, and another film Mahayanam, was also scanned for the State Award. Mammootty won the Filmfare award for Amaram directed by Bharathan. He played the role of an uneducated fisherman who dreams of making his only daughter a doctor.

During this time, Mammootty appeared in many of the films directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan's. He starred in three of his films, Anantharam ('Thenceforth'), Mathilukal ('Walls') and Vidheyan ('The Servile'). His portrayal of the protagonist in Mathilukal (based on 'Mathilukal', a novel by the ace Malayalam novelist Vaikom Muhammad Basheer) was instrumental in getting him his first National Film Award for Best Actor. Mammootty also portrayed the roles in Adoor Gopalakrishnan's Vidheyan and TV Chandran's Ponthan Mada. He received the National Film Award for Best Actor and State Award for his roles in both films. His performance in Valtsalyam directed by Cochin Haneefa was also considered for the State Award. The King, scripted by Renji Panikkar, was released in 1995 and was directed by Shaji Kailas. Mammootty played the central character as a District collector and it turned out to be the biggest hit of the year

Current era, 2000-present

Shah Rukh Khan, Mammootty, Juhi Chawla and Mohanlal in an abandoned climax scene in Harikrishnans(1998), directed by Fazil

Mammootty won his third National Film Award for Best Actor for Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar, an English language movie about the life of Ambedkar, directed by Jabbar Patel^[14]Sponsored by National Film Development Corporation of India and the Ministry of Social Justice, the film was released after a long and controversial gestation period.

Jabbar Patel comments on Ambedkar and Mammootty:

“

Anyone who has seen the film will agree that Dr Ambedkar could not have been possible without Mammootty. How did the filmmaker settle on him? I was making a film in English and I went all around the world, met and saw actors in Canada, United States and United Kingdom. Physically, many actors in America came close but I was not sure about how they would portray the whole sensibility and inner turmoil. I was also not happy about the gestures. I had shortlisted 2-3 people and knew that it would be troublesome as I would have to get them here and train them. So I was not really happy. Then I decided to do something about Mammootty, who was hiding in my mind for a very long time.

”

Mammootty's commercial hits in early 2000 include Chronic Bachelor(2003) and Sethurama Iyer CBI(2004).Sethurama Iyer CBI was the third film in a series of films starring Mammootty as 'Sethurama Iyer', a sharp and highly intelligent investigative officer of the CBI. The first two movies were Oru CBI Diary Kurippu(1988) and Jagratha.(1989). Released in January 2004, the movie broke collection records and became the biggest hit of Malayalam cinema in 2004. Mammootty won the State Best Actor Award for his potrayal of Operator Madhavan in Kazhcha, which did well at box-office too. Mammootty’s career graph raised spectacularly after the release of Rajamanikyam directed by debutant Anwar Rasheed. Released during Ramadan 2005, the movie broke all collection records and became the biggest hit of 2005. Rajamanikyam was also touted as the biggest hit of all time ever produced in the Malayalam cinema.^[15] In 2006, Mammootty continued his success with the film Thuruppugulan. The character Gulan became a rage among the kids and a cartoon series on the character 'super gulan' was started by a kids comics.^{[citation needed]}

Mammootty's action comedy Mayavi became the top grosser of 2007. His portrayal of Dr.Nathan in Shyamaprasad's Ore Kadal(2007) was critically acclaimed.

In 2008, Mammootty delivered another blockbuster Annan Thambi. The film released in 75 centres across the state and completed 50 days in nearly 61 centres.The film is touted as the biggest hit in malayalam surpassing the record of Rajamanikyam.^{[citation needed]}

Also, his recent movie "Mayabazaar" holds the record for highest channel right collecting film in Malayalam Film Industry, by selling the channel right for 1.3 crores. The record breaks his own record of 1.1 crores for the film Annan Thambi

Beyond boundaries

Mammootty had crossed the boundaries of Malayalam cinema and acted in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and English films. in 1989, he made his Tamil debut in Maunam Sammatham, directed by K. Madhu . He has acted in Tamil films with front-line directors of the industry like K. Balachander(Azhagan) and Mani Ratnam(Thalapathy). His performance along with Tamil Superstar Rajinikanth in Thalapathi made him a favorite among the Tamil audience followed by a string of interesting films in Tamil. Fazil directed Kilippechu Kekkavaa(1993) had mammootty in his rarest avatar of a romantic hero. In 1995 Mammootty had a surprise blockbuster in the form of R.k.selvamani directed Makkal Aatchi. In Kandukondain Kandukondain, directed by Rajiv Menon, his performance as Captain Bala opposite Aishwarya Rai was considered the showstealer despite a big cast including Ajithkumar, Tabu and Aishwarya Rai. Aanandam directed by N. Linguswamy had Mammootty in the role of a family man.

Mammootty has acted in few forgettable films in Tamil . Puthayal(1996) (a film on treasure hunt), Junior-Senior(2002)(a love triangle), Viswatulasi (2004)(a mature love story) were all made with impressive starcast but were critical and commercial disasters.

He made his foray into Hindi films through Thriyathri in [1989]. However, his maiden Bollywood film as hero, Dhartiputra went unnoticed., nonetheless made his presence felt on the national level with the biographical film on Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar directed by Jabbar Patel. Mammootty's Sau Jhooth Ek Sach won critical acclaim but the film didn't do well at the box office. Mammootty's Telugu film Swathi Kiranam an offbeat venture was well received by the audience and critics

Films shown at International film festivals

His famous work Mathilukal ('The Walls') has been shown in almost 40 International Film festival beginning with Venice. The ace director Adoor Gopalakrishnan said:

“

Among my films, it is Mathilukal which has invited the maximum number of international honors. The sincere co-operation by Mammootty, the actor has played a major role in the success of the movie".

”

The film is an adaptation of the novel Mathilukal by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer. The film's music is composed by Vijay Bhaskar. It was well received upon screening at the Venice International Film Festival, and won 4 awards at the National Film Awards in 1990.

Vidheyan, the cinematic adaptation of the novel "Bhaskara Pattelarum Ente Jeevithavum" by Malayalam writer Paul Zachariah explores the master-slave dialectic in a South Karnataka setting. Vidheyan won the State Film Awards for best film and best director for Adoor Gopalakrishnan. Mammootty won the National Film Award and State Film Awardfor this film in 1993. The film also won the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, along with the Interfilm Award - Honorable Mention at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival.

Remarks during IIFA 2006

Mammootty during the Hit Parade in Dubai in November 2005, which was conducted in honour of him.

His remarks during the 2006 IIFA Awards ceremony held at Dubai had gained a lot of media and public attention.^{[citation needed]} He openly criticized the organizers 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.^{[citation needed]} He commented:

“	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

Pain and Palliative Centre

Mammootty is the patron of the Pain and Palliative care Society,^[17] a charitable organization in Kerala formed with the aim of improving the quality of life among patients with advanced cancer. He has been the fuel and the engine of the pain and Palliative care centre, situated at Kozhikode, India.^[18] Thousands of people are getting the benefits which the institution is providing. Mammootty has now put forth a novel project to provide the pain and palliative care to those suffering from cancer, living all over Kerala.

Jeevan Jothi

Mammootty is the ambassador of Jeevan Jothi - a social work project aimed at providing aid to people who are seeking treatment for any Ophthalmic diseases, Heart (cardiac) orthopedic diseases, liver diseases, renal dysfunctions, Haemophilia diseases, ENT disorders

The caretaker of street children

Mammootty is the ambassador of a charity project, aiming at the eradication of Child abuse and Child labor.

Kazhcha- free eye care and treatment

Kazhcha is a venture to extend free eye care and treatment to the neglected and downtrodden people of the society. This event is the first of its kind in India, organized in the name of an actors’ fans association. Kazhcha 06-07,^[19] is maintained by Mammootty Fans Welfare Association & Mammootty Times, in association with Little Flower Hospital & Research Centre and Eye Bank Association of Kerala. Under this project, around 10,000 people will be receiving free eye treatment and 1000 poor patients will have the opportunity to undergo cataract surgeries free of cost at Little Flower Hospital, Angamaly. The actual cost of each of these surgeries is around Rs.8000/-. In addition to this, all eligible patients, who are selected for surgery, will be given free accommodation, food, medicines and conveyance. This project also includes various programmes to prevent childhood blindness in society. One of the major activities related to this is distribution of free spectacles to the children from socially and economically backward families. The special fund received from the office of the President of India will be utilized for this purpose. Free eye camps will also be conducted at various places in connection to this project

Donating foods and goods

During Onam 2007, Mammootty donated food items among thousand families in Parathodu near Kanjirappally in Kottayam district, a Kerala village which was hit by Chikungunya. The village which was worst hit by the disease claimed the most lives in the state.^[21] In a press conference Mammootty explained his motives for doing this:

“

I decided to do this because the village has lost the maximum number of people to chikunguniya in the state this year. And this is not a publicity event and I would not be going there to distribute it either. This is done to see that others also come to extend a helping hand to those who are suffering

”

[edit] Smart City: Discussions with Dubai Internet City

Mammootty and Dubai-based businessman M.A. Yusuf Ali met with the officials of the Dubai Internet City (DIC) and finally - the proposed Smart City project at Kochi is now within striking distance of the investment-starved state.^[22] This project could potentially bring over 90,000 jobs in the Information Technology and allied sectors at Kerala. The much-talked about Rs.15 billion - IT project, which has been in a limbo since the new V.S. Achuthanandan government took over last May, has been revived with Dubai Internet City - officials saying it has agreed to the terms put up by the state. The move came immediately after Mammootty air-dashed to Dubai early this week to hold discussions with DIC officials.^[23] Mammootty Explained in Indo-Asian News Service:

“	I think so!, I was in Dubai and held discussions with DIC officials. This was nothing official but I had a keen interest that investment should come to Kerala and I did what I could do

Akshaya: Information Technology dissemination

Akshaya, the Information Technology dissemination project of the Government of Kerala,^[24] has Mammootty as the star campaigner.^[25] He formally took over as the Goodwill Ambassador of Akshaya project on February 26, 2006 at a video networked programme which was linked to all the district headquarters of the state.^[26] Mammootty will take up the responsibility of spearheading a campaign by appearing in print and visual media advertisements and other publicity materials that will send the message of Akshaya to the grassroots. He Explained:

“

I am really happy to be associated with this unique project that promises to ring in wholesome change to the perceptions about Kerala as it seeks to make its presence felt in the digital era.[27]

”

Mammootty is now appearing in a new role on television.^[28] He was seen giving tips on ways to master the computer keyboard or browse the internet.^[29]

“

If we manage to reach the benefits of information technology to the entire population, we would be able to raise ourselves to the levels of a developed society. I understand that the Akshaya project has been launched with this objective. I am sure this unique project will go to make the State a fully empowered knowledge society.[27]

”

Akshaya, Kerala’s mass computer literacy campaign which has bagged several awards, has roped in the multilingual star to popularize the programme.^[30] Now launching e-lite-literacy programme in Kerala with Mircosoft.

Television career

He is the current Chairman of Malayalam Communications,^[32] which runs some popular Malayalam TV channels like Kairali TV, People TV and Channel We. etc.

Mammootty formed a television production company, Megabytes, which has produced some television serials, the first being Jwalayay in the late 1996s, which was also his first project as a producer.^[33]. Jwalayay created history in Malayalam television.^[34] He had started a distribution company named Mammootty Technotainment.^{[citation needed]} It has distributed his Tamil film Karmegham in Kerala. It gets the first share from the distribution rights.

Other activities

Mammootty was appointed as the Global Brand ambassador of the Kerala-based South Indian Bank on October 16, 2006.^[35][36] 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.

Publications

Mammootty has turned writer with his first book Kazhchapadu (roughly translated as (Perspective) a compilation of short essays he has written in various publications over the years.^[39] M. T. Vasudevan Nair the doyen of Malayalam writers and a personal friend of Mammootty issued the first copy of the book published by the famous Current Books, Trichur to C. V. Sreeraman. Speaking at the occasion, M. T. Vasudevan Nair said:

“

Only those with a wealth of experience in their life can become great artists. Looking back, Mammootty had a lot of memories which he has crafted into essays which makes interesting reading.

”

M. T. Vasudevan Nair was all praise for Mammootty’s style of writing. Mammootty in his speech explained:

“	I have always wanted to be a writer, and had been writing even when I was a student. I hadn't published anything though, After trying to be a singer and a writer then only I became an actor.

Fortunate escapes from accidents

• Mammootty was injured in a car accident in Nirmala city near Kattappana, Idukki. He was on his way to shooting at Idukki. Mammootty was working in director Blessy's film Palunku. The accident happened on the morning of November 17, 2006.His car got into a minor accident when it collided with a private bus. Mammootty was slightly injured in his hand. He was administered first aid at a nearby private hospital. Soon afterwards, he left for the shooting spot. Since his car was damaged badly, he was taken to the shooting spot in another car. Mammootty informed his fans that there is nothing to worry. Mammootty, who soon returned to the film's sets, said:

“

I cannot afford to take a break. A delay would mean a loss not just to this producer but also to other producers.[40]

”

• In 2007 February 19, Mammootty met with an accident on the sets of Amal Neerad's Big B that could have been fatal. During the shooting of a scene involving an explosion a flying metal piece missed him by inches. The shooting was stopped immediately. Mammootty explained:

“

I was shooting for a scene where a car was blown up by a petrol bomb. A portion of the exploding car flew inches away from my face. God is great. After the incident we saw it replayed on the video and only then we knew the gravity of the situation. It was a narrow escape.[41]

”

The shooting commenced after a break. The scene was retained in the film though.

Political rumours

There was a rumor prevailing that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) would field him for one of the three Rajya Sabha seats from Kerala during June 26, 2004 elections.^[42][43] Later on the news subsided as Mammootty denied any such possibility.^[44] Mammootty is known to be close to the Communist Party of India (Marxist).^[45] He is the chairman of Malayalam Communications in which the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has a high stake.^[32] And he clarified that he had no intention of joining any political party. Film stars in Kerala have maintained a distance from politics, unlike their counterparts in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Controversies

Mammootty, who has a huge fan following in Tamil Nadu as well, was addressing thousands of youth who had gathered for the inaugural session of the eighth national conference of the Democratic Youth Federation of India, In May 2007, at Chennai.^[46][47] Mammootty in his speech said:

“

I memorize all my scripts for films, but what I am saying today is from my heart

”

He stressed that the Gujarat carnage in 2002 'would not have happened' if the youth wings had been stronger in that state. Mammootty also saw a greater role for political parties in strife-torn Jammu and Kashmir. This statement did not go down well with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh^{[citation needed]}. This led to police protection being extended to the actor and also his house at Ernakulam. But his comments about globalization went unnoticed.

Mammootty has denied allegations by the Indian National Congress party in Kerala that he had constructed buildings on encroached lands in the hill station of Munnar and Kochi.^[48] In a statement issued from Chennai, where he is shooting for his film Pazhassi Raja, Mammootty said: "I do not possess any unlawfully acquired land in Kerala or any other state.^[49]. He added that if any lapse had occurred in any land dealings without his knowledge, he was "prepared to return the land without any condition”. "I spoke at the DYFI conference only as an ordinary citizen of India. I did not level any charge in my speech against any particular leader or movement," he explained:

“

"Don't read too much politics into it. I am inaugurating that event because the DYFI asked me to. If the Congress asks me to inaugurate their meeting, I may do that too,"

”

He was offered to act as Coca-Cola's Brand ambassador in Kerala during March 2004.^[50] But, pressure from various quarters, it seems, has prompted the Megastar to give up the ambitious offer.^[51] Several environmental groups were calling for the soft drink's boycott. Ending a weeklong debate in the media over the propriety of his promoting the Coca-Cola brands in the State, he issued a statement denying that he had taken up the role of a Brand ambassador.^[52][53]

• During the celebration of his new release Roudram, Mammootty was accused of slapping a fan. In an interview, he denied the allegation and said "I could sense that the passion was running high when I arrived for the promo because my new film was running in several theatres across north Kerala. The fans were excited to see me and for me, fans mean everything. Seeing the mood and the fervour of my fans, I opened the roof of my car and stood up. As soon as I stood up, fans rushed to my moving car and wanted to touch me. Isn't it a natural thing to happen? Stars are often mobbed. But soon I noticed that things were moving out of control and people were coming closer to my car. I was really concerned about the safety of those who were near my car and I started warning them".

MACHU