‘I AM AN ORDINARY MAN’

I’m an open book, nothing new!” Mammootty the superpower of Malayali movies shrugs his broad shoulders as he wonders if he should do the interview or not. “I haven’t done an interview for three or four years now!” But t2 gets lucky as he settles down for a relaxed chat in his vanity van parked in the middle of Nalban 2 where he is shooting for Balyakalasakhi. And what we take back is not just the superstar Mammootty but the ordinary Mammootty, the farmer Mammootty and the photographer Mammootty!

Tell us about your character and the film that brings you to Calcutta for the first time...

Vaikom Mohammed Basheer, who has written this film Balyakalasakhi, is a very celebrated writer in Kerala. He was also the writer for the first film that fetched me the National Award for Best Actor. It was called Mathilukal. (He is excited to know when t2 points out that Mathilukal and Vidheyan, both films that fetched him two of his three National Awards, are playing at this year’s Calcutta International Film Festival as a part of the Adoor Gopalakrishnan retrospective.) Really? You must watch! Actually Adoor Gopalakrishnan had asked me to be there but I have to go back because I have to start working on another film. I wish they would do a retrospective of my films too (smiles).

Balyakalasakhi is supposed to be a period film that happens in the 1940s and a lot of the writer’s own biography is found in this character I play called Majeed. The girl he’s in love with is Suhra (played by Isha Talwar). Majeed and Suhra are like the Laila and Majnu of Kerala. My character comes to Calcutta in search of a job. The story begins and ends in Calcutta. The rest is what he sees in flashback. Barring the electric wires overhead, luckily the villages here are still the same, not much has changed in terms of infrastructure or multi-storied buildings. I’m supposed to understand Bengali in the film and all I’ve picked up is ‘Nomoshkar, bolbo, dhonnyobaad...’.There’s no ‘a’ in Bengali. Everything’s ‘’.

How has your Calcutta experience been so far?

I knew that it was historically an important city and one way or the other all our Nobel laureates are connected to Calcutta. Also, Usha Iyer (Uthup) and Mr V.V. Thambi (former CID director-general) were known to me. I arrived two days after Durga Puja got over and since then every day has been a festival it seems! Lakshmi Puja, then Kali Puja then Deepawali. People are all so happy and enjoying themselves.

But I haven’t seen a more crowded city! It’s the biggest crowd. So crowded?! Maybe because it’s the oldest city.

But I’m quite taken aback by so many similarities between Kerala and Bengal. Culturally, I remember listening to Salil Chowdhury’s music for Malayalam films. Many Bengali actors have worked in our films too. I did Ponthan Mada with Laboni Sarkar, which had won many awards. Topographically, geographically and attitude of people too. Although our people are a bit more ambitious than people here, I think (laughs). Our people work more, earn more, spend more. Here they work less, gain less and spend less but they are happy! That's what I think. Also, I haven’t seen people here drink much unlike Kerala where it’s almost like bread and coffee for them! (Laughs)

What about tasting some local food?

No, I was a bit scared of the mustard oil. Mustard oil is not popular in Kerala at all. We have coconut oil and refined oil. I’ve tried some sweets and of course the famous fish, hilsa! I have a cook here with me so he made it in our style… (laughs)

Have you managed to take some time out and go around?

The problem is I’ve been shooting for almost 18 hours a day. And travelling around the city takes time. The streets are always so busy with people. Don’t know where they’re going but everywhere I look they all seem to be running around! (Laughs) On the day the shoot got cancelled because of the rains I was in my hotel room watching the rain through the window. I have heard about the Malayali population in the city and actually wanted to meet them but it’s not been possible. There’s been no time for it. There are so many things to see. I wanted to go to Santiniketan, the Sunderbans but I have to finish the purpose of my visit first. I should come back for all that only, someday. I’m thankful to Calcutta and all the Bengalis I’ve met for making me feel at home.

With more than 300 films to your credit, what makes you want to work with a first-time director?

He’s (Pramod Payyanur directing Balyakalasakhi) from the school of drama and was working for television. The script was known to me and it’s probably the last film I can do of Basheer so.... I promote young directors. He’s the second first-time director that I’m working with this year. I have introduced more than 55 new directors who are very big and popular in the South now. After I go back to Kerala I begin another film by a new director. Thing is, I look for novelty. I’m greedy about it and if they bring me something new, I grab it. I’m not doing it as charity but out of my own selfish interest. To get a new film that involves a new mode of making, new thought. That’s it.

How do you pick your films now?

Thirty years is a big span of time. The rules have changed. What I’m doing now is about what’s happening in today’s day and time. It’s still a different role, a different film. Greed for acting, new roles and good roles keep me going.

But you and Mohanlal are still giving younger actors a run for their money!

It’s not deliberate. We are also working very hard and so are they. They have their needs and we have ours. I think it’s a healthy thing. Cinema today is digitised, new subjects are being discussed, new technology is being used. There’s a new audience who appreciate and enjoy. So I’m glad that I’m still a part of the entire change that cinema all over the world is going through.

And your son (Dulquer Salman), has recently turned actor. You’re giving him competition too!

Yes, for me he’s just another actor! (Smiles and takes his phone out to flip through pictures of his son and him) So, that’s son, and this is father... (Laughs)

What does being a larger-than-life superstar mean to you? Do you see a good side and a flipside to it?

I don’t know! (Laughs) Maybe it means people like me or they like my movies. In Kerala especially they treat everyone as a human being. Not super humans. Those are misunderstandings. Superstar or not, I don’t let anything get to my head. I can walk around the streets freely, unless my arrival is announced. If that happens then of course there will be a crowd but I’m a very ordinary man. I do take my walk down the streets when I like.

Did you never consider going mainstream in Bollywood films?

It was their choice not mine. They didn’t choose me, what to do? (Laughs) But it would have been a task because of the language. I’m not very conversant in Hindi. I would rather act in the language I’m comfortable in. Buddhadeb Dasgupta had offered me a film two years ago but I told him I’m not conversant with the language. I have to speak my own lines. It’s too strange and difficult a language for me. I’m not even able to speak Hindi properly, I say it with an accent, then how am I to speak in Bengali? And I don’t want to dub. In that case why want me?

Are you aware of the regional cinema scene in Bengal?

I’ve seen all of Ray’s films and classics of Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, Uttam Kumar. I’ve just got DVDs to catch up on new ones like Moner Manush, Autograph and Shabdo. I think it’s a great thing that Bengali films are coming up again because language becomes the main barrier. The Malayalam film industry is smaller compared to the Tamil and Telegu industries. Bengal is big so the industry should be bigger.

If a film was to be made on you, who should play you?

I will do it. It will be easy for me and people will identify better!

What keeps you busy when you’re not shooting?

After I return I will have to go to Hyderabad because our family company has a chain of birthing centres in Chennai, Bangalore and we’re launching one in Hyderabad. I do some philanthropic work because it’s something you would feel like doing too but not everyone is able to do it. If I can promote and endorse these things why not? Like farming. I love farming. I’m a farmer.

Farmer?!

Yes! (Laughs) I have a paddy field… (He takes his iPad out and shows t2 a video of himself on his paddy field as he dunks his feet in the muddy waters and takes part in the paddy transplant with help of machines back in July.) It’s around 20 acres of our family paddy field in my own district Kottayam. It is harvest time now but I couldn’t be there. I will be going there on 15th. In Chennai also I have a paddy farm, now.

How did you develop an interest for this?

From my father. He was an ordinary man, an agriculturist. He was never a filmstar but he was a 6ft 2in tall, fair handsome man. He was my hero. And what you see is spiritual farming. No chemicals, no fertilisers, not organic either. Naturally the paddy will grow. But more than paddy I love growing fruit-bearing trees. I grow mangosteen fruits. I also have 50 acres of a cardamom estate in Munnar. Whenever I get free time I try to be there and spend a whole day, farming. The happiest or most pleasant thing for me is to watch a plant grow every day. I do this to motivate youngsters too. In Kerala, agricultural activities and farmers are lessening. Most of the produce is being brought from outside. At the end of the day you have to eat something, why not grow it yourself and the right way. Imagine there’s no fuel, no power. Pre-fuel mode of farming is what needs to be practised. You cannot depend on hydroelectric projects. One day it will all be over, only solar power will be left. But I’m not going to go about preaching all this. It’s for people to realise.

bengal vs kerala

Our people are a bit more ambitious than people here, I think (laughs). Our people work more, earn more, spend more. Here they work less, gain less and spend less but they are happy! That's what I think. Also, I haven't seen people here drink much unlike Kerala where it's almost like bread and coffee for them! (Laughs)