Mammootty wins fourth National Best Actor Award for ‘Bramayugam’, promises to keep entertaining audiences ‘more, more and more times’

Dubai: Mammootty has no plans to slow down. As the veteran Malayalam actor collected his fourth National Film Award for Best Actor on Tuesday, he said the recognition was an inspiration and thanked the many people who had been part of his long journey.

“It’s an inspiration to every performer to get recognised by the nation and luckily I’m very fortunate to have my fourth National Award for the Best Actor,” Mammootty said on the red carpet at the 72nd National Film Awards ceremony, according to comments reported by NDTV.

The actor, who won for his performance as Kodumon Potti in Rahul Sadasivan’s atmospheric horror film ‘Bramayugam’, shared the Best Actor honour with Kartik Aaryan, who was recognised for ‘Chandu Champion’.

Dressed in a sharp white suit, Mammootty reflected on a career that has stretched across several decades, while making it clear that he still wants to keep audiences entertained.

“I’m very happy that I could entertain them for such a long time and hope that I can do it more, more and more times. I can only assure you that I’ll be working very hard to be there,” he said.

For 75-year-old Mammootty, the honour was also about the people behind the performances.

“It’s been a long journey with a lot of people behind me or supporting me, my directors, my writers, my co-actors and my producer and the people who were appreciating me,” he said.

His winning turn in ‘Bramayugam’ saw him play Kodumon Potti, a mysterious and powerful figure at the centre of Sadasivan’s black-and-white horror film. The role demanded a striking physical transformation, with Mammootty also crediting the film’s director and technical teams, including makeup, costume and cinematography, for helping bring the character to life.

Asked about his approach to choosing roles, Mammootty kept it characteristically simple: “I choose the script, then the role.”

The fourth National Award adds another major chapter to a career that has already seen Mammootty become one of Indian cinema’s most celebrated actors. But if his words on Tuesday are anything to go by, the 73-year-old actor is far from done.

There are clearly more characters, more films and, as Mammootty put it, many more chances to entertain his audience.