Mammootty and the depth of emotions
iView Author: Ram V (Bangalore, India)
Email: Shrey.dna [at]gmail[dot]com
Great Indian Actors-Part I : Mammootty and the depth of emotions
‘You should not limit this ceremony to just Hindi movies. You must recognize movies in other languages also. And you should stop identifying us as South Indian movie stars alone because we are Indians’ thundered Mammootty at IIFA (International Indian Film Awards) Dubai suggesting implicitly that IIFA change its name to IHFA or IBFA (Hindi/Bollywood). His politics, and personality aside, this man is one actor that commands exceptional presence on the Silver Screen.
Mammootty’s biography, career and controversies is available in this wikipedia link. Profiling any actor is an task involving dissection of his most prominent performances. What does one do when faced with the challenge of 330 odd films spread over 29 year ? An act of picking and choosing, like black grape for a fine brew of pinot noir, Mammootty’s characters that impacted the audiences with their enormous depth and lucid execution, has been attempted here. This is a set of recommendation which would prove as a guided tour to his illustrious career.
Unnikrishnan – Yathra (1985,IMDB)
Mammootty’s ‘Yathra’ is perhaps what best show-cased the director’s actor, that he always claimed to be. It follows the story of Unnikrishnan, who is mistaken for another criminal lookalike (whose photo only is shown), and suffers police custody, and atrocities there in. The visual poetry by Balu Mahendra, is exemplified by an assuring performance by an up and coming actor, Mammootty. As an disciplined student, he puts himself inside the framework of the auteurs imagination. As one watches the helplessness of Unni at the hands of police, or him reminiscing the memories of his beloved when one of jail-mates hum a lilting melody, intensity in his eyes or the timing of reaction, to other performers, led every cineaste to realize that here is an actor to watch out for.
Inspector Balram - Aavanazhi (1986)
A story inspired by the Rajan Murder case. Mammootty appears as the firebrand, brutally brash inspector Balram. The man, who lost his love, dignity and stature now carries thorough-bred contempt for the system and society. A power packed performance, in a film that captures the social situation of the times brilliantly. This movie and the character are perhaps the most memorable depiction of police in malayalam movie history. Probably, one of best in Indian film history too.
GK- New Delhi (1987,IMDB)
When Joshy adapted Irving Wallace’s ‘The Almighty’ into malayalam, Mammootty was perhaps the only choice he would have ever dreamt of. The young effervescent G Krishnamoorthy and the majestic, cold blooded ‘Vishwanathan’ was a plum role for any actor trying to establish his stardom. Mammootty performed his way to superstar-dom, without gimmickry or banality of any sorts. Vishwanath/GK was a character that, was incessantly brooding and plotting. The inclined actor that he was, lived the role and every moment when the handicapped GK appeared on screen, appeared with a gleam of viscious scheming that were emanating from his eyes and body language.
Balan – Thaniyavathanam (1987, IMDB)
A heartbreaking tale of society dictating our life. A kafkaesque tale, dealt with a more narrative and dramatic perspective. One of Lohitadas’s initial few scripts, deals with a school teacher , Balan Master or Balan Mash (in anglicized malayalam), who wakes up dreaming a nightmare. The closely knit extended family of his, houses an uncle, who became mentally ill after a similar nightmare long before. The family and village declares Balan, as the hereditary carrier of the ‘Madness’ gene. Balan’s actions are scrutinized and fitted to those of a lunatic. An unwary Balan, by the time he realizes, what the society has done to him, ends up losing his wife and children.
Watch some chilling sequences in youtube, in the first five minutes of the video
In 1987 Mammootty appeared in two other exceptional performances in ‘Manivathoorile Aayiram Shivarathrikal’, a breezy romance and ‘Anantharam‘ , an Adoor Masterpiece.
Subsequently, in 1988 he appeared as Sethurama Iyer for the first time in ‘CBI Dairy Kurippu’. There were stories floating of CBI department officers, coming in official hordes for a special show. The portrayal of no-nonsense and dignified CBI officer, earned unprecedented box office success. He also appeared in ‘August 1′, a thriller and ‘1921′ , a period drama about Khilafat agitation in Malabar.
Even after these exceptional performances over several years recognition evaded the master actor, but not for long
Chandu, Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha (1989, )
A magical literary work by MT and lyrical execution by Hariharan, bought to life one of the greatest characters to grace Indian screen, Chandu Chekavar. An immortal performance, which would definitely be a part of any malayali’s mind-space until death and beyond. Mammootty along with scriptwriter, Jnanpith winner MT Vasudevan Nair and director Hariharan, transport us to yonder years, where fief-doms dueled out their differences , with the help of ‘Chekavars’.
The actor became the character, and the character came to life. There was no Mammootty any more, it was two and half hours of Chandu, and his majestic presence.
Basheer, Mathilukal (1990,IMDB)
Mammootty has been one of Adoors favorite muse. He appeared for the second time in an ‘Art’ film by Adoor Gopalakrishnan and art it was. The film explored the prison life of the prolific writer Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, in British India. Basheer’s pastime and love interest is a voice, of a female jail mate from across the walls, ladies prison. The narrative relies on Mammootty’s expressive voice and subtle body language, which is supported by KPAC Lalithas inimitable vocal presence.
Mammotty won in first national award in 1991 for Mathilukal and Vadakkan Veergatha combined, long overdue and each one of these performance deserved separate accolades on their own.
Kottayam Kunjachan, title character (1990, IMDB)
If Mammotty was limiting himself to drama primarily, and serious cinema every now and then, it was time for some comic relief. Kottayam Kunjachan was the most lovable achayan (Keralite Christian) character to appear on screen. Kunjachan , a goon, upon insistence from a church priest, ends up starting a Motor Vehicle Driving School and calls himself Proprietor and Principal of the school. Exceptional performance, when one realizes it came from the same man who immortalized Chandu and Basheer just a few days ago. This is versatility for you, all in full length Kottayam slang.
Achooty, Amaram (1991,IMDB)
Talking of dialects, Mammootty is perhaps the most prominent in ensuring that his characters use locality specific slang and dialects. He modulates his voice to suit the dialect and brings in the whole audio visual impact that completes the character. In Amaram, artistic autuer Bharathan cast him as the fisherman, Achooty. Achooty has no one but his daughter, whom he wants to grow up to be a doctor. She falls in love with her childhood friend, a fisherman with no education whatsoever. Mammootty, is caught between his parental ambitions and choices of his child. The heartbroken Achooty, settles down for his childs wishes at the end, but not before enthralling us in a emotional whirlwind. A performance which deserved the national award, but lost out to Mohanlal’s ‘Bharatham’.
Puttu Urmees, Soorya Manasam (1992, IMDB)
Mammootty took up the role of Puttu Urmees, a man with the mental growth of a child. Even though, the film was a commercial cliched entertainer, the actor lived upto his set standard with the help of voice modulation and body language.
Meledathu Raghavan Nair, Valtsalyam (1993, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0271857/)
Valtsalyam , meaning dearness, was a Kochin Hanifaa family drama. It portrayed the story of the all sacrificing elder brother of a family. Mammootty excelled as Raghavan Nair, with his effortless representation of the simple minded farmers naivety and integrity alike. The trick, as always, lay in the details, body language, appearance, dialect, voice culture and emotional expressiveness. An acting lesson for wannabees.
Bhaskara Patelar, Vidheyan (1994, IMDB)
Adoor came calling, now it was the role of a Kannadiga landlord Bhaskara Patelar, a ruthless despot. The exploits of Patelar, who is accompanied by his servant Thommi, makes up the framework for Vidheyan. The Patelar is as cruel as man can get, he gait is that of a tiger ready to prowl on its prey, and eyes are that of a cunning fox. The man explodes with arrogance and remorselessness as the naive and timid Thommi looks on.
Ponthan Mada, Title Character (1994, IMDB)
As if preplanned, Mammootty landed at the other end of the personality continuum, when he played Ponthan Mada, in TV Chandran dark drama. Ponthan Mada was a character akin to Thommi of Vidheyan, he is a servant to the generous landlord played by Nasseeruddin Shah. He astounded one and all, by playing yin and yang personalities in two back to back features. A feat that rattles and exalts any cinema audience, and instills the magic of this thespian.
He was awarded his second National Award for both Vidheyan and Ponthan Mada together
Ravishankar, Sukrutham (1994, IMDB)
He teamed up again with his guru MT Vasudevan Nair, whose script on the meaning of life and death was explore in the amazing and hard hitting film. Sukrutham, traces the story of a newspaper editor, Ravishankar, who is diagnosed with a terminal illness. As doctors instruct him to get ready for the final journey, he prepares for his departure. Ravishankar, comes across as a de-motivated man, facing death, during the initial parts of the film. Everyone around him, his wife, relatives all prepare for life after Ravi’s death, and that is what he wants. But destiny, comes in the form of Naturopath, who claims to cure him. After a long and slow cure, Ravi returns back to his life, just to find that he is a misfit now. All around him have learned to live assuming he is dead.
The heartbreaking tale, and an exemplary performance. Watch out for the scene when Ravi returns back to his office fully cured.
Vidhyadharan, Bhoothakannadi (1997 ,IMDB)
Bhoothakannadi is a surrealistic film, about the effect a personal tragedy can bring to the psyche of an Individual. Vidhyadharan is imprisoned for killing the suspected rapist/murderer of his teenage daughter. He starts to have visions, about a hapless destitute family suffering a similar tragedy as his. Vidhyadharan, is a timid and simple individual whose undergoes a traumatic experience and carries with with him as an illusion. Mammootty, seasoned as old wine executes of the complex character with consummate ease.
Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar, Title Character (2000, IMDB)
Mammootty trained himself in the ‘received accent’ English for his performance as Dr.Ambedkar. His in-depth analysis and subsequent elicitation of the character on the screen earned him the National Award for the third time.
Madhavan, Kaazhcha (2004, IMDB)
Madhavan plays a travelling cinema operator , who cares for this wandering boy, of unknown origin and brings him home to his family. On investigation, they realize that the boy is from Gujarat, somehow lost after the great earthquake. So Madhavan takes it upon himself to return the boy to Gujarat to his hometown and family. The kind hearted, and polite Madhavan is embodied by the bowed down body language and the expression of bewilderment that Mammootty carries on his face throughout the potrayal. A genius at work
Rajamanikyam , title character (2005,IMDB)
If Madhavan was polite and kind, Manikyan was loud, hilarious and unkempt. This cattle dealer from Bellary wears a green kurta, yellow ungi , sports Ray Ban shades, travels in a Red Merc and speaks in the most outlandish Trivandrum slang. The biggest grosser in Malayalam Cinema, Rajamanikyam is a laugh riot. Mammootty rediscovers himself as on of the funniest actors around. An incredible display of artistry.
Balachandran, Kaiyoppu ( 2007, IMDB)
If Bellary Raja was riotous, Balachandran was an intellectual, a writer waiting to get himself published. Mammootty ceases to exist five minutes into the film, Balachandran takes over. A class act.
Dr. SR Nathan, Ore Kadal (2007 , IMDB)
Nathan, is perhaps the most prolific potrayal of a character by any Indian actor in recent times. Mammootty appears as the swaying, staggerring , enigmatic Professor of Social Economics, who values anything and everything in economic terms. He detests poverty, hates relationships and attachements, views any attraction towards women as a physical impulse. When such a personality clashes against the dreamy, emotional and innocent love of Deepthi, Meera Jasmine, its catastrophe. One of the best films ever made in India, with superb performances from the lead actors.
There have been several omissions to the laundry list of brilliant performance by this actor. Notable ones being Dhruvam, Athirathram, Dalapathi, Inspector Balram, Palunku, Koodevide, Kanamarayathu, Pappayude Swantham Appos, August 1, Yavanika, Adiyorukkukal, Mithya, Mudra, Kandukondein Kandukondein, Marumalarchi, Mrugaya, CBI Dairy Kurippu series and the list extends.
Just for a sample of why this man is great, a scene from Kathaparayumbol, the inspiration behind Kuselan and Billo Barber. If the language is know, it will moisten your eyes and even if you dont understand a single word of the language, simply his expressions might move you.
Want to lookout for Mammootty in the near future, catch ‘Pazhassi Raja’ where he teams up with MT and Hariharan, to recreate, rather surpass the ‘Vadakkan Veeragatha’ magic. Ace director Shaji N Karun, is shooting ‘Kutty Shranku’ where he portrays the same character in three different lights. Enjoy the legend.
Tags: Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Dr BR Ambedkar, IIFA, Mammooty, shyam benegal
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
one of the very few actors who simply take you over by surprise when you start watching the film fully aware that he is going to surprise you with something special. He has a grace and elegance and an unmatched dignity. He was a treat in Maniratnam’s thalabathi and K.Balachander’s Azhagan and was quite commanding in Marumalarchi.
His turn in R.K.Selvamani’s ‘Makkal Aatchi’ was so good that Thamizh people treat him as a thamizh actor and not as a malayalam artist. His performances in Kandukondein kandukkondein and Aanandam too have been greatly appreciated. Though not as varied and deep roles as his malayalam filmography contains, his performances and successes in thamizh too are extremely noteworthy. Eagerly looking forward to his next thamizh venture too..
Wiki style or not – An artist like Mamooty should find more articles addressed to him in a portal like PFC – that would automatically do the word quality in PFC a whole world of good.
Excellent Article.Mammoty is one of the best Asian Actors we have.I wold like also to mention King a political thriller by Shaji Kailash .Yes though Kathaparayumbol has been remade into Hindi and Tamil by Superstars, the face it did not worked in remake version and it worked in Malayalam is due to Mammoty and Sreenivasan combo.
@Jaiganesh…thanks..Mammoootty and some real good actors need a breakthrough in PFC :-)..thats why I planned to take this up..I however beg to differ on the point that his Tamizh performances were good..They were very limited and linear…I am still waiting for a Tamizh performance of his which can be told as good by his own set standards. Dalapathi was not even half as good as his moderately good performance such a Dhruvam…But yes those which you have listed were watchable…I thought Rasu Padayachi was his best character in Tamil till date…
@Cinemausher…thanks…Everyone speaks of Mammootty’s greatness…but most people even in other parts of South, apart from Kerala, would have got the chance to witness the variety and effective potrayals this actor has played out..You are spot on with KP…Mammu’s 15-20 minute role in KP was far more effective than Rajni or SRK’s semilength ones…
Superb and timely post….Now a post on the other great actor Mohanlal is eagerly awaited….More power to these two acting powerhouses
Excellent one..but still there are movies to add to the above list..
@Sandeep…Thanks..This is first post of a series I plan to write on Great Indian Actors. Next one is tentatively planned on Om Puri…Lalettan is definitely one whom we cannot avoid while using the word ‘Great’…
@Jemsheed..yes there are..this is just an overview..I can instantly remember atleast 50 movies which is a recommended watch for Mammootty..but it would make a tedious read…request you to please list the movies in the comments which you wish to add..so that readers can pick it up for viewing if they wish..
Ram- great choice of movies.As Jai has mentioned it’s quite commendable that Mammooka has made it reasonably well for himself in Tamil cinema too. I also liked his work in the Telugu movie- Swati Kiranam directed by the master- K.Vishwanath.Some of the other Malayalam movies I like of him are Nirakootu, CBI Series, August 1st, Kaazcha, Azhagiya Ravanan, Karutha Pakshikal,Ee Nadu, Yavanika,Koodevide, Nair Saab, Anantharam, Abkari, 1921,Mrigaya, Iyer the Great, Aryanangulude Veedu, Palunku etc. The list is quite long & I’m sure I must have missed some names.
Looking forward to seeing him in Pazhassi Raja & Kutti Shranku. And I seriously hope he avoids doing duds like Love in Singapore anymore.
@Ram,
I am eagerly waiting for write up on mohanlal.
Ram,thanks for writing abt this wonderful actor whose performance sweeps me off my feet every single time.. His screen presence is unimaginably classy and is wrth every penny of urs..His charisma n elegance is shown even when he plays a negative role.Come on! who else could carry off the role of Dr.Nathan and Rajamanikyam so beautifully? I coudn’t really write about him coz i always fell short of words. Thanks once again for this great filmography of Mammuka..Thumbs up to him any time..any day!
At times, to write @ such an actor, is not only brain-wracking but futile since the work itself speaks. But you’ve done a commendable job here Ram V. Snippets from his films that define him and what a varied actor he is. Do write on Mohanlal too. Malayalam cinema wouldn’t be the same w/o these two great artistes..
@Cinemausher…The one on Lalettan is due for delivery sometime soon… :-)
@Rashmi…Thank you…it was really a difficult job trimming up the long list of his incredible performances to these 20 characters…
@Arthi V… Thank you..I have always felt actors like Mammootty deserves a lot more exposure among Pan India audience..thats why I ended up writing this piece…Mohanlal is unavoidable…agree that these two artiste have made film viewing a pleasure for Malayalees…
@Sethu…Thanks..The list is definitely too long..we are bound to miss a lot of movies…he has done 330 of them, …and still going strong.. :-) even if one quarter of them are good performances it comes to 70 odd films, which is mind boggling
@Ram V
I had the opportunity of meeting the Legend in 2002,he was visiting Mumbai.Had a great chat with him over 2-3 days.
A terrific human being like his awesome persona !!!
GK
Mammootty is rly one of the best actors India has ever seen. He’s got style, acting style and potential in kilos. I think the author forgot to mention some awesome movies of Mammootty like Karuthapakshikal,Valsalyam etc. I also agree to what Mammootty said. Malayalam, Tamil,Bengali(earlier atleast) has and is making lots of meaningful stories. The point is people get to know about these only when remakes come. I hope a similar article about Mohanlal(who i personally feel is a better Malayalam actor than Mammootty) will come soon.
Ram, excellent write up. i rate mammotty above kamal hassan. i think uve missed out padheyam and dany!
and guys lal and mammotty cannot be compared with each other, both are very diverse yet very versatile. the only difference i might be able to give is that mohanlal is a born natural actor like bharat gopi and nedumudi venu.
also expect u to write on nedumudi venu and bharat gopi who i feel are better than the best.
cheerio
@GK..great..may be you could share with us some rememberances from the chat…
@Aravind…I did mention Valsalyam (just below Sooryamanasam)…though somehow its not in bold..
Many people feel Lalettan is better than Mammootty…but its difficult to make that statement…if you have seen all of their films..then you would settle down that they are extremely good in what they do…sometimes Mammu scores a lot..and in some other points Lal does…its like choosing between Black Label and Chevas Regal…both are equally good…
@Ram M…Again comparing Mammootty to Kamal also is unfair…Kamal did not get the play the kind of roles that Mammu or Lalettan were offered…I feel Kamal is highly underutlized and he himself has limited his performances to make-up gimmicks..
Venu, Gopi, Murali (mal not tamil), Jagathy, Rajkiran (tam not hindi), Sivaji, Vishnuvardhan, Nasseeruddin Shah, Soumitra Chatterji, AB, KH, Aamir are surely in the list…immediate next I am concentrating on a stuff Om Puri though…
@Ram M…I missed Padheyam and avoided Danny…Idea was to pick and choose around 20 characters which showed the different shades of the actor…Thanks for the compliments though :-)
@RK
I liked that comparison to Chivas Regal and Black Label. I think many people feel the way because his style of acting makes people feel that he is not that flexible as mohanlal. Sry, i didnt find Valsalyam.
@Aravind…Physically he is almost inflexible…its Pappu cant dance scenario..I agree..but while emoting or performing as a character that we have seen in real life..he is second to none..he is even better than Lal when you consider roles like ‘Aavanazhi’,'VVG’ or ‘Amaram’…He is there at the top along with any world class actor like De Niro, Depp or Day Lewis…
@Aravind..I always have this confusion between Black Label and Chivas… :-0
Lalettan is our favorite..as he is so approachable as an actor…you feel he is one of you when he is in screen and has entertained us a tonne more than Mammu…
Ram V, thank you for this beautiful write-up! It comes at a time when the more popular Hindi cinema is in self-congratulatory mode at having finally discovered ‘meaningful’ movies. Your article is not just about Mammootty, it’s a mini-anthology of real Malayalam cinema, the intelligent, deep and artistic kind of cinema that the Hindi film industry has only now begun to dream of making.
Sadly though, while Hindi cinema has begun to see the light, Malayalam cinema is sliding down the other side of the slope; the trite, glamour-infested plots, the Tamil-esque garish music & dance, the insignificant heroines, the perfunctory machismo and stunts, this is what popular Malayalam cinema has been reduced to today. And there isn’t a single worthy successor to Mammootty or Mohanlal. (Of late, even Mohanlal has been wasting himself on stupid roles in idiotic movies.)
@Geeta…Thanks…I agree with you on the fact that malayalam cinema has stooped to unfathomable depth in the last few years…You can see mammu and lal dancing around with cute 16 year olds…reason? easy money…
It is a correct observation that Mohanlal and Mammu have no immediate successors..hope Prithviraj and Anoop Menon (an intense but chubby actor from movies like ‘Thirakkatha’ and ‘Pakal Nakshathrangal’) might stand up to their roll-call…
Geeta, agree with your observation. You have Baradwaj Rangan, sitting in Chennai, a fine critic of Bollywood cinema, asserting that Hindi cinema has been the best even in the 80’s and 90’s! And when you point him to Malayalam cinema of 80’s, he merely points to lack of subtitles and escapes away. I mean, this is a critic who is not typical bollywood – yet he is affected by the arrogance of bollywood to assert that they were and are the best = refusing to recognise that Malaylam was ahead in 80’s, and basing his open ignorance of the latter as a justification for it! He is a very nice person, as I know him from his blog, yet such is the influence of Bollywood that he has whiff of that arrogance that bollywood was always the best without ever sampling other important regional cinema!
Now that bollywood is the best in India in terms of meaningful cinema – mallu cinema has to pull its socks up and compete – ungala thaane nambi aaganum, vera yaaru irukka? :-)
ram,
did u mention aamir khan in the name of the list of actors?
comeon is nothing more than an average actor
@Ram M 27, Maybe yes…let me see…its a long list anyway… He, Rajkiran and all have affected my sensibilities with one or two excellent performances..I rate Aamirs performance in ‘Sarfarosh’ a quite good one…but yes if you leave out RDB, Earth, Rangeela and Sarf..you have some average performances otherwise….Maybe he will be part of post where two or there actors are clubbed together…or something like that…
@Plum…Rangan has a job to do..he is paid…we are here for love not money…thats the difference… :-)
plum, I’m really surprised that a critic should actually praise Hindi cinema of the 80’s & 90’s, it would have taken a lot of money to get such a conscience-defying comment out of him
Personally I think the 80’s & 90’s witnessed the absolute nadir of Hindi cinema – the worst actors, worst ‘plots’, barely passable music, I could go on.
Yes, Malayalam cinema needs to look hard in the mirror and try to recapture its lost glory.
Ram & Ram, I think Aamir certainly is one of the most natural actors we have today. Never over the top, he slips into any character with ease. Ram V, I think you missed Lagaan, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander & that cult comedy Andaz Apna Apna in your list of AK’s best. And Ghajini wouldn’t have been worth watching if it wasn’t for Aamir’s show-saving, double-whammy performance.
Geeta…I agree with you…I did miss AAA..It shows his versatility…Lagaan and Sikander are just OK ..not bad by any standards though…Ghajini…mmmm…yes..it would have been unwatchable but for Aamir…but I think Ram M is trying to weigh Aamir against some heavyweights like Mammu, Lal, OM puri, Naseer Shah, and K haasan..that may be the reason he is pointing out that Aamir is not in the same league…
How could you not mention his wonderful performance in Kandukondain Kandukondain? I love Tabu but Mammootty and his relationship with Bala and Aishwarya stole the show in KK.
@Lee, I did mention KK in the list of roles I have ommitted while doiing the picking choosing act…I completely agree with you Mammootty was one of the major strengths of the movie and the climax scene with Aishwarya was a high point in the film…
Ram, Excellent compilation!!!
u got the best of the best by Mammooty right down to the T!!
well done
now get working on the Lal post. and lets see if u can limit tht one to 20 :-)
Thanks DPac….just completed the one on a favorite of mine Om Puri and send it to editors…will start on Lal post soon…I will start with a target of 10…then it would be easier.. :-)
Ram & geeta,
for me its really baffling when u say Ak is a natural actor. for me the only actor whos young and versatile in this country by a mile is surya, but again dont expect him to get the kind of scripts the stalwarts have got.
i w’dnt even rate him to a prithviraj standard as i see potential in prithvi which ive not seen in aamir. i sincerely feel that even ajay devgan is better than him but not versatile.
for me AK has got a good cinematic brain which can impress most of the pseudo intellects of our country and i find him a very manipulative person.
and for gods sake Ak in Ghanjini was terrible. no way comparable to surya.
Plum – i seriously feel that even the hindi movies of today cant live up the contempory best made in malayalam. if u take the best of the movies released in the last 2 years in hindi and malayalam has to be Dev D and Ore Kadal.
in anyways u compare dev d doesnt match up to ore kadal.
its true that our standards hav dipped drastically, but i feel it has got a lot to do with the media hype on tamil and hindi movies and the quality of mallu audience going down the drain. again one can argue that lohi who scripted movies like mudra and thaniyavarthanam is busy scripting kasthooriman and nivedyam.
im seriously worried. :(
Pazhassi raja is a gripping tale of a warrior prince of Malabar during 18th Century.Mammooty does the role of Pazhassi raja while Sarath Kumar and Manoj K. Jayan as warriors. Padmapriya takes on the role of a tribal girl.Ilayaraja scores music while the script has been penned by veteran M.T.Vasudevan Nair. Academy Award Winner Resul Pookutty will be working on sound editing. Find all this and more information is on FindNearYou.com. Its entertaining!
You can view the Photo Video of the movie Pazhassi raja
here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE2qOIuGB8E
Cheers!
Mammooty is a brilliant actor. It is a shame that people like me have known him better only through the very few tamil movies he has done. Even in a very ordinary movie like Makkalaatchi he was top notch. As mentioned the climax in KK, he would have performed so naturally. Wish we could see him more in tamil movies. ther is one coming up soon ‘Aruvadai’ and heard ‘Pazhasi Raja’ is also gonna be made as a bilingual. With IRs music its gotta be treat for sure. Hope we see more of Lal and Mammooty in tamil in the coming years.
KPV Balaji…I agree with you..looking forward to both PR and Aruvadai/Vandemataram…
Yes, we should make concious effort watch more movies from different region/states/vernacular tongues , then only the real depth of talent from across India can be experienced…
Sita..PR stills video looks interesting…thanks
hi ram, kudos for the brilliant effort. in such an effort, i know that pleasing all is a Herculean task. still wondering how could you skip two classics: Danny, the TV Chandran film and Arappatta Kettiya Gramathil by Padmarajan. it should find place in any must-watch list of Mammootty. the most recent & heartening development about Mammootty is that he started a production-distribution co. titled PLAYHOUSE and releasing films of Lal Jose’s MT film Neelathamara and Shyamaprasad’s film with newcomers apart from doing commercial films! it alsp plans to produce a Harold Pinter drama with acclaimed theatre guy Murali Menon & Mammootty. this is particularly noteworthy as no other Mallu actor is doing this with his banner. anyway, keep up the spirited work.
he is great actor in acting he doing great job in Malayalam industry
Thanks Rajesh, yes I missed that and many more…and the commentators like yourself have filled in the gaps…thanks for that…
Its good to notice that Mammootty has not planted himself in all his planned productions…a real good move…heard he is releasing a Jayaram film first up..
@Abhilash…’great actor in acting’…a typo..its alright :-), fully agree with what you convey
Thanks for these comments and lists!
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I’m especially happy to find somebody writing about Ore Kadal – have looked for words/thoughts on this movie before – it’s one of the only Mammooty movies I’ve ever seen and one of the best movies I’ve ever seen, too, irrespective of language/country. It can’t be easy to play a character who is so intelligent (or to write one either), with such complex emotions and warring ideas.
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So I look forward to benefitting from your short-list.
Ram,
your task was very chellenging, especially when you write about an actor of mammootty’s calibre…you cant miss out his powerhouse performance….and here you have missed out one of such….1921. I know it is easy to point out shortfalls when you are writing about a legend…keep up your good work
I am excited on seeing this discussion. It is quite informative and interesting. Thank you all. Thanks a lot.