Happy Birthday, Mammootty!

Sep 7, 2008 VN

Come September 7, and the Megastar of Malayalam films, Mammootty, celebrates his birthday.

With an enviable career that spans more than three decades, Mammootty already has three National awards, six State awards and nine Filmfare awards in his kitty.

Having started off in 1971, with K. S. Sethumadhavan's Anubhavangal Palichakal, he acted in a few inconsequential roles, before his first super hit in 1981, the I V Sasi directed 'Trishna.' There hasn't really been a looking-back for the actor since then, until the late 80's, when his career witnessed a slump, with several of his films continually bombing at the box-office.

The star made a stupendous comeback soon, with the resounding success of 'New Delhi' in 1987. He matched up the thriller act with an adept display of histrionics in Siby Malayil's 'Thaniyavarthanam', the same year.

There are a few films that are considered as milestones in the actor's career. The Hariharan directed 'Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha' is just one of them. There is also the CBI series, where Mammootty played the suave CBI officer Sethurama Aiyyer. Proficiently directed by K. Madhu, there have been four films in the CBI series till now.

Mammootty teamed up with the renowned director Adoor Goplakrishnan for Anantharam, Mathilukal and Vidheyan. His association with director Shyama Prasad for 'Ore Kadal' has been greeted with great enthusiasm by critics and viewers alike. The film has bagged several prizes in the international film circuit.

Mammootty has also been involved in several other projects that range from being the brand ambassador of Akshaya, the Information Technology project undertaken by the Government of Kerala, to being the Chairman of Malayalam Communications.

His political allegiance to the Communist Party is no secret. He has vehemently denied any intention to join the party though.

Mammootty is known to be an intensely knowledgeable actor with a great penchant for electronic consumables and sunglasses. He is a gifted photographer and a talented writer as well.

He has often been alleged to be a man with a short temper, but sources close to the actor have a different story to tell. He has had his share of controversies too, the latest one being a video put up on Youtube, that purportedly shows the actor slapping a fan during a success celebration of his hit 'Roudram.' The actor later clarified that his gesture was misinterpreted.

Mammootty has been widely appreciated for his prudent selection of the right scripts. It is to be noted that some of the best directors of Malayalam today like Lal Jose and Blessey started off their careers with Mammootty films.

He's currently working with internationally acclaimed director Shaji N Karun for the first time, in the film 'Kutti Sranku', and has almost wrapped up the eagerly anticipated Hariharan - M T Vasudevan Nair magnum opus 'Pazhassi Raja'.

Mammootty has also acted in several other languages besides Malayalam, like Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and English.

nowRunning.com wishes Malayalam's favourite star many many happy returns of the day!