Superstar Mammootty: "Bahubali Was Fiction, Mamangam Is A True Story"

South Malayalam superstar Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works in Malayalam cinemas. In his career spanning of four decades, he has appeared in over 400 films, predominantly in Malayalam language and also in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and English.

Mammootty will be next seen in the periodic drama Malayalam film Mamangam. He believes it is his duty to act as a bridge between the past and the present. The actor will play the role of 67 years old worrier.

"Baahubali is not a historical film. It’s a fictional (film). But, Mamangam is a true story. No fiction,” the actor said.

“I felt I should not let this opportunity go. It is my duty as an actor to bring historical stories and characters and their bravery on screen, especially for the younger generation. I should act like a bridge between cinema and history and audience,” Mammootty told PTI.

The actor feels like historical and past stories slip through the time unless they are documented in art and cinema. “It is a big episode to be remembered and sadly not much movies are made on it. Movies are the best medium to teach and let people know about history. It is a period film but not folklore. It is about the fight between two groups and about justice, which should be delivered.”

The south superstar thinks Malayalam cinema will go global and definitely will have more avenues and more areas to conquer if Mamangam becomes a game changer.

"The grandeur of the set is real and there is no VFX. It has got the biggest set ever seen in Malayalam industry. I hope Mamangam will become a game changer of sorts for Malayalam cinema because if it does well, it will be good for our industry because then more such films will be made,” he said about the M Padmakumar-directed film.

Action sequences are not challenging for the actor Mammootty because he was doing martial arts for some time. He said, "I have been doing martial arts for some time. In the film, there is a Kalaripayattu. It is tough to do action as one can get injured. It is risky but then life itself is a risk". The movie will be releasing in the Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi languages.

Recently, the actor came into headlines with his latest film Unda minor post-production hurdles. But today the film released and has cleared the censors with a ‘U’ certificate. The film Unda is directed by Khalid Rahman and scripted by Harshad, the film is about a senior police officer and a group of policemen who venture into the Maoist-affected areas of Chhattisgarh for election duty.

Mammootty has won three National Film Awards, seven Kerala State Film Awards, thirteen Filmfare Awards, eleven Kerala Film Critics Awards and five Asianet Film Awards (from fourteen nominations). In 1998, the government of India honored Mammootty with its fourth highest civilian award, Padma Shri for his contribution to the Indian film industry. He was conferred with the Doctor of Letters degree by the University of Calicut and the University of Kerala in 2010.