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NFAI honours Mammootty as ‘Face of the week’ on his birthday

Superstar Mammootty is celebrating his birthday today.
Superstar Mammootty is celebrating his birthday today (Sep 7). The actor turned 71, and wishes are pouring in from all nooks and corners of the world. National Film Archive of India (NFAI) too honoured the thespian by making him the ‘Face of the week’ and thereby celebrating his body of work.

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NFAI posted a rare picture from Mammootty’s film ‘Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha’ and captioned, “#FaceOfTheWeek #Mammootty has won three National Awards as of now. His first award came for successfully portraying the multifaceted roles in Mathilukal (1989) and Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha (1989). Seen here as warrior Chandu Chekavar in the landmark historical drama Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha (sic).”

In another post, NFAI shared a still from ‘Mathilukal’, directed by the legendary Adoor Gopalakrishnan, and had Mammootty in the lead role. “Set in a prison, Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Mathilukal (1989) presents an unusual love story of the imprisoned Basheer (#FaceOfTheWeek #Mammootty) and Narayani, a woman from the neighbouring prison compound. They are separated by a high wall so they can’t see each other & have to devise new ways of communicating (sic),” the note read.

Today, on the actor’s birthday, NFAI dropped a video extending birthday wishes to the Megastar.

“Rewinding the glorious on-screen journey #FaceOfTheWeek #Mammootty through this mashup video: The megastar of #Malayalam cinema is celebrating his birthday today,” the post read.

Check out the video here.
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HBD Mammootty: Movies where the actor nailed as an antagonist

Mammootty, in one of his previous interviews with online media, reportedly admitted that he is not a so-called ‘born actor’ and the way he is now is only the result of his perfect application of the ‘trial and error’ method. Mammootty has performed several roles that any other superstar would be hesitant to perform, fearing that it would affect his star value. Performing memorable antagonist roles is something that makes Mammootty different from other superstars. On the legendary actor’s birthday, let's take a look at the times when Mammootty unveiled his dark side to the audience and gained much adulation.

(Picture Courtesy: Facebook)

Mammootty’s villain character in Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s ‘Vidheyan’ is indeed the performance that comes to everyone’s mind when you think of Mammootty as an antagonist. Mammootty played an aggressive and tyrannical master named Bhaskara and was truly terrifying. Apart from Mammootty, several other actors such as MR Gopakumar, Babu Namboothiri, Tanvi Azmi, and Ravi Vallathol also played pivotal roles in the movie.

(Picture Courtesy: Facebook)

Although Mammootty’s negative shaded character in ‘Puzhu’ seems to be a lighter one compared to the other antagonist characters that the actor has played, much appreciation should be given to the actor to perform such a racist kind-off character on-screen at a time when his star value is literally in its peak. ‘Puzhu’ was the directorial debut of Ratheena PT and the actors Parvathy Thiruvothu, Appunni Sasi, and Nedumudi Venu also played major roles in this drama film.

(Picture Courtesy: Facebook)

One can never forget the most hateable villain character Ahmed Haaji in Ranjith’s directorial film ‘Paleri Manikyam’ and the more surprising fact is that it was played by none other than Mammootty. From the mannerisms, Ahmed Haaji may seem similar to Mammootty’s character in ‘Vidheyan’, but the actor, with his minute mannerisms, has helped in creating a different look for both the characters. Ahmed Haaji is indeed one of the brilliant villain characters played by Mammootty.

(Picture Courtesy: Facebook)

Spoilers ahead. Although Mammootty turns out to be the villain only at the end of the psychological drama movie ‘Munnariyippu’, the actor, throughout the film, gives a very suspicious outlook of the character that makes the audience confused. Everything gets revealed at the end of ‘Munnariyippu’ and Mammootty simply nails his antagonist performance too. The film was directed by Veni Isc.

(Picture Courtesy: Facebook)


Mammootty, who ventured into cinema in 1971, with 'Anubhavangal Paalichakal', as a junior artist, went on to reign the Malayalam movie industry after making his proper debut in the early 1980s. From the hero to the villain, Mammootty's oeuvre is rich with versatile roles and films. In his career spanning over four decades, he has constantly tried to reinvent himself as an actor, taking up challenging roles, and delivering his best. The superstar also won the National Film Award for Best Actor thrice.

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