Actors - Mammootty

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	Actors - Mammootty

Mammootty (b. at Chempu near Vaikom, Kottayam district, Kerala, 1953), whose real name is Muhammed Kutty, is a Malayalam film actor. He has acted in more than three hundred movies, most of them in Malayalam. He has a very large fan following in South India. Mammootty's father, Mr.Ismail is an Agriculturist and his mother, Mrs.Fathima is a housewife. He has a daughter, Surmi and a son, Dulquar Salman.

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 Joshi's New Delhi. 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 meaty roles of M T Vasudevan Nair's characters. M T's films like Aalkootathil Thaniye ('Alone in the crowd') catapulted him to new realms 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 by birth and belief) officer became a topic of household discussion in Kerala. The film carved itself a niche in the heart of Keralites, so that two more films (Jaagratha (1989) and Sethurama Iyer CBI (2004)) starring Mammootty as Sethurama Iyer, the CBI officer, were received very well. A fourth film with the same character, Nerariyan C.B.I (2005) is set to release immediately. 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 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 honors 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 latest 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) won him National award for best acting once more. It was again in an art movie, Ponthan Mada, which won him the National award for a third time. He is also a recipient of the Padma Shri.

In between, he had crossed the boundaries of Malayalam cinema and acted in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi movies. Though he proved a success in Tamil after Mani Ratnam's Dalapati and continues to shine in Tamil films, his maiden Hindi film, Dhartiputra went unnoticed. But his national presence was once again felt after Jabbar Patel's Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar.

Howsoever, he has been criticized for his inability to do comedies. Also, his dancing skills are considered poor by even his most ferverent fans. But the emotions and the depth that he gives to his characters make him a well revered actor.And now He tried to do comedy in the films like Thommanum makkalum, Rajamanikyam e.t.c and that are successfully accepted.Now no body can say Mammootty cant do comedy

Awards and honours

Mammootty was awarded the "PADMASREE" in 1998, for his contributions to the Indian Cinema

NATIONAL AWARDS

1989 Mathilukal
, Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha
(Actor)
1993 Vidheyan,Pothanmada (Actor)
1999 Dr. Ambedkar (Actor)

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