1987: When Mammootty walked into Dubai shop and Keralite tailor made his suit

In Dubai’s Al Qusais, tucked between calendars, cloth samples and posters of fashion models, a small showcase of fading photographs hangs quietly on the wall of a tailor shop, often stopping visitors in their tracks.

Time has softened its colours, but not its moment. In one of the pictures, a young Mammootty stands smiling, a measuring tape draped across his shoulders – looking less like a future legend and more like an ordinary man pausing briefly in someone else’s life.

For tailor Kadukkat Narayanan Mohanan, that photograph is not memorabilia. It is memory.

Hailing from Kerala’s Thrissur district, Mohanan came to the UAE in 1979, long before Al Qusais became the bustling neighbourhood it is today.

“Back then, this area was quieter, cheaper and full of men like me, chasing stability in our lives one stitch at a time,” 74-year-old Mohanan told Gulf News while standing inside his MM Tailor shop near Dubai Airport Free Zone Metro Station.

Before Mammootty became Mammootty

The year was 1987. Mammootty was already known in Malayalam cinema, but the weight of awards, national recognition and ‘megastar’ status still lay ahead. He had come to Dubai for an event, and it was his close friend Paul – a resident of Al Qusais and a regular customer at Mohanan’s shop – who brought him there.

“What I know is that Paul and Mammootty were classmates and friends,” Mohanan recalled.

As Mammootty’s car entered the streets of Al Qusais, someone recognised him. Word spread quickly. Within minutes, the narrow stretch filled with people hoping for a glimpse of their beloved ‘Mammukka’. Traffic slowed. And just like that, an ordinary tailor shop became the site of an extraordinary afternoon.
“I first offered him cloth,” Mohanan remembered. “But he said there was time to make a suit.”

The magic moment

Mohanan took the measurements himself. Mammootty stood smiling, relaxed and unhurried. There was no entourage, no sense of urgency – just a man trusting a tailor he had met moments earlier. It was then that someone from the neighbourhood captured the moment on camera.

Their interaction, he recalled, was simple and human.
“I offered him tea. He asked for a cigarette. When I took out the packet, he smiled and said, ‘This is my brand.’ He smoked two cigarettes. Later in his career, he stopped smoking.”

The perfect cut

Later, Mohanan went to the hotel where Mammootty was staying to deliver the grey three-piece Raymonds suit. Mammootty tried it on, looked at himself, and smiled.

“He said, ‘It’s perfect. I liked it,’” Mohanan said, his voice still carrying quiet pride.
“I could see the happiness on his face. I even saw him wear it in films later.”

Before the fame

Over the years, Mohanan crossed paths with Malayalam cinema in ways few outside the industry ever did.
Actors Indrans – himself a former tailor and costume designer – and the late Mamukkoya were frequent visitors to Mohanan’s flat in Al Qusais.

“We had common friends who were tailors in the Malayalam film industry,” he said. “They would spend hours there, eat food, and talk about everyday life.”

The walls of MM Tailors reflect those years. Among the framed photographs are Mohanlal, Jagadish, Mukesh, Janardhanan and director Fazil.

“I stitched the shirt Jagadish is wearing in that photo,” Mohanan said, pointing to it with unmistakable pride.

Stitching memories

Actors like Mammootty and Mohanlal, he said, had their own personal tailors in Kerala. But when they visited Dubai for programmes, they often needed urgent alterations or costumes.

“We stitched an inspector’s uniform for Mohanlal,” he recalled. “Those were the days.”

During the 1990s, whenever actors visited Dubai, Mohanan would sometimes go to their hotels just to catch a few minutes.

“Mohanlal would talk a lot and give time. He would ask about your life, your experiences.”

Staying while others rose

Mohanan’s own journey was shaped far from film sets. Before Dubai, he worked in Bhilai in Chhattisgarh and Ulhasnagar in Maharashtra. It was a Sindhi tailor shop owner who brought him to Dubai in 1979. He began at the then-famous Pappu Tailors before moving to Al Qusais.

“My life has steadily progressed,” he said.

But the decades have changed the trade.

“In the 1980s and 1990s, a pant would cost Dh30. Now it’s Dh60. Rent and licence costs have gone up. There isn’t much profit. But life goes on.”

Simple pleasures, big smiles

Even in today’s world of readymade garments, customers still come looking for hand-stitched clothes. The shop supports five to six staff. One of Mohanan’s sons works alongside him, the other lives in Kerala.
While Mammootty went on to become an era, Mohanan remained where he was – measuring, stitching and waiting.

Every day, customers pause before the framed photograph. They look again. Step closer. “They ask: ‘Isn’t that Mammootty?’ and I just smile.”

Photograph that waits

“Somehow, I always come to know when Mammootty is in the city,” he said. “But I have never tried to approach him. Paul has gone back to Kerala. Still, the desire to meet the megastar remains in my heart.”

As evening falls in Al Qusais, Mohanan folds away the measuring tape and switches off the lights. Outside, the neighbourhood hums – metro, buses, shops, professionals heading home. Inside, the photograph remains.

Mammootty’s smile – unchanged – waiting on the wall. Not as a megastar, but as a man who once walked into a small tailor shop in 1987 and became part of someone else’s forever.