Muhammad Kutti Hated His Nickname Mammootty

You say what’s in a name, it is what you make of yourself that finds your name in history. There is at least one mega star who would differ aggressively…actually the very name he shunned turned into the mega brand, loved and idolised. Many have wondered what the name Mammootty meant. For the past 50 odd years, it has shot into global popularity and respect. Mammootty who turned 73 on September 7 was born into a conservative family. His parents Ismail and Fathima ran a modest trade business in clothing and rice in Kerala. Mohammad Kutti, the eldest of their six children, dreamt of getting into films but family pressure saw him graduate from Ernakulam’s Maharaja College and forced him to study law so as to add the prefix Advocate to his name. Wanting to be known as Omar Sharif, the Egyptian killer star, Kutti hated his nickname Mammootty, the abbreviated choice of his friends and family. Now comes the filmy twist. One day the postman knocked on the Advocate’s door, asking “Who is Mammootty…I have a letter from MT Vasudevan Nair of Janasakti Films, addressed to Mammootty”.  The rest is magical cinematic history. Mammootty , christened and chosen by the genius Vasudevan Nair went on to become the tallest Malayalam film star, with 420 films in his bag…a mix of good, bad and passable. In 2000, Mammootty hit the mother lode of four scorching hits —Narasimhan, Valletta, Dada Saheb and Kandukondein Kandukondein. With four National Awards and countless State Awards, at this age Mammootty still causes heart flutters in women. A nickname turned into a legend, and a guaranteed audience draw. Mammootty, destiny’s child is acclaimed by his son Dulquer Salman as a hard act to follow.