Originally Posted by
perumal
I dont usually care about those letters to mammukka after most of his failed films recently...Many of them being dishonest and many other coming from those people who just shows fake sympathy laughing inside!! But the below piece looks genuine to me!!
Mammooty?s latest film has released. And a disgruntled fan shares her grief over the loss of the actor at the altar of mega-stardom.Dear Mammukka,Your latest film Parole has released, and it has already come under attack, from critics and fans alike, for reasons that have almost become clich?s in current Mammootty films. These reasons are: trying hard to look young, primitive storylines, young heroines and plots that are superstar vehicles. As a fan who has grown-up on your films I have deliberately decided to skip the film. Cinema cannot always be an exercise in endurance. It must have some take-away for me as a viewer and since Pathemari I can?t think of a single film that even came close to satisfying the genuine, critical Mammootty fan in me.In fact, since 2010, the superb actor in you has only made sporadic appearances on screen (Munnariyippu, Pathemari, Kadal Kadannoru Mathukutty, Kunjananthantey Kada and Varsham). It?s always the superstar and his slavish coterie that has sashayed on screen, with scripts that revolve around your stardom, and new and old directors who seem only too eager to exploit your mega stardom. For an actor who, in his prime, refused to be pigeonholed and became the first superstar to blur the boundaries between art and mainstream cinema, this is a definite downward spiral. Check your films post the brilliant Pranchiyettan and the Saint or 2010 to be exact. There were a few seemingly interesting ideas on paper that fizzled out when it played out on screen?August 15, a sequel to the brilliant August 1 had an out-of-form Shaji Kailas meddling with a terrible script. Your Perumal despite looking dapper, was a shadow of the original. Similarly, The King & the Commissioner, where you reappeared as Joseph Alex (one of your most feted roles), was about a scriptwriter who failed to understand the changing syntax of cinema. So, the once dynamic Joseph Alex fell flat and that bombast was so out of vogue. To be fair, Gangster, understandably your most awaited and most ridiculed film had only the makers to blame. What appeared to be an intriguing gangster tale floundered at the hands of several disoriented scriptwriters. And Akbar Ali Khan was so sketchily written?all slow-mo, close-ups, stylish jackets and nothing else. Nityananda Shenoy in Puthan Panam, a well-etched character, where you didn?t let its screen age worry you. And you were brilliant in it but then it suffered at the hands of Ranjith?s tepid script and making. Even a superficial film like The Great Father had glimpses of the fine actor. There came a deluge of misadventures in the name of comedy?Cobra, Doubles, Thappana, Kammath & Kammath, Thoppil Joppan, Pullikaran Staraa. The films you did to reassure yourself and your fans that your age was indeed in reverse gear?White, Praise the Lord, Masterpiece, Rajadhiraja, Bhaskar the Rascal (there were box office triumphs too). All insipid caricatures that a three-time National Award-winning actor could have easily shown the door to. If there is one thing I have always admired in you as an actor, it is in your unfailing, incessant attempts to keep experimenting and trying new characters. Even to this day. After 360 films! Jawan of Vellimala and Utopiyayile Rajavu were all interesting attempts that failed to translate on screen, while Face2Face unfortunately had a storyline that was like Memories. But there have been films that did make me wonder if you had taken up charity work. Not to mention, the thoroughly misogynist baloney Kasaba, which you had the choice to run a mile away from.A second fact about these films is the average age of your heroines?35 and less. And you playing dad to school kids. Do you even realise how claustrophobic it looks on screen? Also, can you spare us those gravity-defying stunts which I suspect is another way of you trying to tell us? ?Hey, I can still give the younger lot a run for their money.? Other than making you look genuinely silly, it serves no purpose.Pathemari? easily one of your better outings in the last decade, had you playing a character between late 20s to late 60s and the most organic part was when you were in your aged garb?greying, tired, wise and all grace. Venu in Varsham was another brilliant act, where you single-handedly pulled up a soap opera of a film into something immensely watchable. Or Munnariyippu, again a multi-layered role that required an actor of your caliber and you so superlatively delivered. Mathukutty in Kadal Kadannoru Mathukutty, I would say, is one of your most underrated acts?the coward, unheroic, flawed Mathukutty sat easily on your shoulders. These are films that reassure us fans that the fine actor in you is not in deep slumber, he has just fallen into his own snare of blinding stardom and predicament with overcoming age.Mammukka, as a genuine fan, let me assure you that I am not sitting vigil, tallying your existent and non-existent box office figures. That The Great Father garnered the fastest 20 crores hardly cheered me up. Nor did Pulimurugan?s 100 crore business put me in depression. True, for any actor, big or small, super or minor, hits are like instant boosters. But I don?t think for an actor of your caliber, that really facilitates anything at this stage. The figures are just a bait for fans to up their social media fights and nothing else.In the mid-80s, when I was a child, I recall that exact moment when your career was nearly over, and you were booed at but then a power packed performance as GK in New Delhi put you back in the marquee. Since then you have always fought against the odds, proved your detractors wrong at various phases in your career. Didn?t Rajamanikyam put a lid on those who made fun of your comic timing? Weren?t you the one who showed magic with dialects and paved the way for many actors to pick up that trend?In fact, even today you are the most sought-after name for playing epic/historic characters. That?s why a Telugu filmmaker had to look no further when he thought of making a film on former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Reddy! Or that a Jabbar Patel scouted the length and breadth of the country and finally came to you to play Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar on screen. And each time you have delivered with astounding detailing and homework required for the role. It?s this inimitability that prompted Director Ram to wait for 8 years to make Peranbu as he felt no other actor could do justice to that role.As an actor, I think you still have a lot to give, lots of unique, layered characters to dive in and stun the wits out of us. You still bring an element of surprise as an actor and you have continued to fine-tune your craft in every film (the last dialogue in Pathemari was a masterclass in subtlety). If you can be more judicious in your choice of roles, directors, and sign films that only Mammootty can do justice to, that?s the best thing you can give to Malayalam cinema. Ignore the young social media fans who keep harping on your looks and age. Bhaskara Patelar, Chandu, Mada, Sethurama Iyer, Venu, Balan Mash, Vidhyadharan, Achutty, Madhavan, CK Raghavan, Dr Nathan?. these were flawed, ordinary, unpolished men with incredible stories to tell. They led us on a path of soul-searching, crafted undiluted emotions in us and we empathized with them; it seemed like they lived within us. They were made for celluloid posterity. And we want that actor back, only the actor. Not the super-megastar. You can pass on the younger roles to your son. Since you are said to be always greedy for roles, rest assured it?s all coming home. Thank you.
A fan forever.
Neelima Menon
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"If the ball is a crying toddler, then Andres Iniesta's first touch is a lullaby..."
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