South Indian star Mammootty — known for his serious character in both his films and life — on Friday told thousands in the capital that humour is power.
“Finding humour in anything, especially in difficult situations, is not a mere quality but power,” he said at a stage programme in Abu Dhabi on Friday night.
His remarks struck a chord with thousands of audience members who had just watched a video montages of some of Mammootty’s famous characters from his 370-film strong, 35-year-long career. His characters in noted films such as Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha, Thaniyavarthanam, Ponthanmada, Bhoothakkannady, Kazhcha and many others had one thing in common: most of them were serious.
The actor, who has played few comedy roles, revealed his love for humour when he was asked about a positive quality of Mukesh, a senior fellow actor who is known for his comedy characters.
Mammootty was responding to a question by John Britas, Managing Editor and Editor of Kairali TV, which organised the show in association with Shakthi Theatres, a socio-cultural organisation in Abu Dhabi. Mammotty is the chairman of Kairali TV.
Mukesh posed two tough questions to Mammotty, apparently to tease him, but he tackled them lightly and humorously. That prompted Mukesh to declare that he has carried out a historical mission to clear up a misunderstanding that Mammootty was too serious to crack a joke or have small talk with fellow actors.
Asking whether Mammootty could outshine his rival Mohanlal — known for his simplicity and humble character — by playing his popular character Sethu Madhavan, in the film Kireedam, Mammootty said each character in a film played by an actor has made a solid imprint on viewers, which cannot be easily changed. “First impression is the best impression.”
“If I act Sethu Madhavan in Kireedam, I might have done differently, but I am not for such an experiment,” Mammootty said in the midst of applause from his fans, adding, “isn’t it good I remain myself as Mammootty?”
Pressed by Mukesh on whether he is too image conscious to freely mingle with the women in the film industry, Mammooty retorted: “It is an utter lie that I don’t interact with women. I do talk to women but maybe not as mush as other actors [like Mukesh] do.”
Narrating an incident while shooting the Malayalam film Sainyam in the south Indian city of Hyderabad, Mukesh said a famous Malayalam actress told him in a hotel lobby that although she met Mammooty that morning she did not dare to speak to him, because Mammootty does not talk to women at all, according to the actress.
Mukesh said even he did not see Mamootty travelling with female stars in a car.
“I don’t need to repent because I haven’t not done any mistake,” said the actor
Teasing Mukesh in lighter vein, he said he does not get enough chance to talk to women when Mukesh is around.
Mukesh retorted saying that now the misunderstanding has been cleared and women are welcome to come forward to interact with Mammootty.
The open-air programme Chandrakantham was held at Armed Forces Officers Club, and Mithun Ramesh and Sindhu Biju, two popular Malayalam radio jockeys in the UAE who set a Guinness World Record recently for the longest radio DJ marathon, were the anchors of the programme. Mammootty presented them a memento for their achievement.
Other acts included South Indian film star and folk singer Kalabhavan Mani, comedian Suraj Venjaramood and Tamil playback singer Karthik and Malayalam playback singers Jyolsna, Afsal and Remya Nambisan.