Mammootty

Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail, known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty ([mɐmːuːʈːi]), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam-language films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and English-language productions. In a career spanning five decades, he has appeared in more than 420 films, predominantly in lead roles. He is the recipient of several accolades, including three National Film Awards, nine Kerala State Film Awards, eleven Kerala Film Critics Awards and thirteen Filmfare Awards South. He was honored with the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award by the Government of India in 1998, for his contributions to cinema. He was also honored with the Kerala Prabha Award by the Government of Kerala in 2022. Mammootty made his debut in acting through Malayalam film Anubhavangal Paalichakal in 1971. His first leading role was in M. T. Vasudevan Nair's unreleased film Devalokam (1979). Mammootty's breakthrough came in 1981 when he received the Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actor for his performance in Ahimsa. Major commercial successes during this time included the 1983 films Sandhyakku Virinja Poovu and Aa Raathri. Following a series of box office failures, the 1987 crime thriller New Delhi improved his commercial prospects. The films that followed through the next decade established Mammootty as one of the leading stars of Malayalam cinema. The 2000s were a period of critical and commercial success for him. His performance in the Hindi and English-language bilingual biopic Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar (2000) won him the National Film Award for Best Actor, and he won Kerala State Film Awards for Kaazcha (2004) and Paleri Manikyam (2009). He garnered further critical praise for the satire Pranchiyettan & the Saint (2010), drama Varsham (2014), period drama Pathemari (2015) and black comedy Unda (2019), and received Filmfare Awards for Best Actor for the first three. His highest-grossing releases include the action comedy Madhura Raja (2019), the action thriller Bheeshma Parvam (2022), and the crime thriller Kannur Squad (2023). He is the chairman of Malayalam Communications, which runs the Malayalam television channels Kairali TV, Kairali News, and Kairali We. He is the owner of multiple production ventures, including the distribution-production banner, Playhouse, and production company, Mammootty Kampany.