Mammootty plays YS Rajasekhara Reddy in Yatra, Dulquer Salmaan and reinvents himself as an actor. Entertainment News, Firstpost

They say that your reputation precedes you and that it could not be more true when talking about Mammootty. With nearly 375 films in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and even English to his credit, the work of the actor spans nearly 38 years.

As he begins to talk about his career, he gives it a fairly simple tone. "You can not plan your dreams, is not it?" Sometimes things happen in your life. The movies are no different, "he says, when asked if he was in another phase of his career. It's not just his candor that's refreshing. The famous actor surprises you when he enters the room dressed in a casual shirt and veshti . He is now 67 years old, but it does not seem that age will catch him any time soon. "It's all God's grace," he says, recounting how much he was almost alike over the years.

While he's talking, you might even convince yourself that the smile on his face is eternal. However, beyond all this, there is an actor who takes his job very seriously. It goes without saying that Mammootty has earned the distinction of being one of the most influential actors of his generation and rightly so. When he agreed to board Yatra to play the role of YS Rajasekhara Reddy, it was nothing less than a casting shot of Mahi V Raghav, who had previously performed Anando Brahma and Paatshala. Ask Mammootty if he has any doubts about the possibility of getting into the film, knowing that Mahi only has two films, the actor says, "During my career, I worked with more than 70 beginning directors and nearly 80% of them are still in training. active in the Malayalam and Tamil film industries. Mahi had already made two films before approaching me (smiles). I have always been eager to work with new directors because I am sure they will have something interesting to tell through their stories. For me, everything is about the story and the scenario. Mahi came to see me with a complete script and they had total confidence in me. The scenario was pretty compelling and I was confident of being able to play the role. "

When the film's trailer reaches the Internet, the actor is commended for soaking up nuances of YSR's body language, including waving his hand to people." You can not wave your hand only in a certain way, and even more so when you play a character based on a real person, "laughs Mammootty, adding," I did not do any research before I boarded it. It's Mahi who did all this work and I just followed her instructions. I did not want to mimic YSR or adapt his ways. We focused solely on the character's soul. If we try to imitate it, then it will become a bad copy. And this is not possible because we are two different personalities. During the shooting, there were quite a few scenes where I became very emotional. However, I could not project them because I was playing a character who should behave differently. It was difficult. It does not matter if I come from a Kerala actor playing the role of a politician from Andhra Pradesh. Poverty has the same color no matter where we come from. We may be talking about different languages, but the problems we face are the same.

Mammootty's also nicknamed himself in Yatra an impressive feat, considering the fact that YSR had a distinctive accent, Rayalaseema. For this, the actor had to do a lot more effort to look good. Mammootty adds, "I do not know about Telugu, but I have a taste for languages. I end up watching Telugu movies and interviews to learn the language. In fact, there are a lot of similarities between Telugu and Malayalam, although we do not insist on each letter as they do when they speak in Telugu. Sometimes I ended up saying Telugu words like I could say in Malayalam. We had to pay attention to this stuff and proceed a few times. The team has been very patient with me throughout the process.

Yatra is the first film of his career, says Mammootty, in which he plays the role of a politician. "I did a lot of political films, but it was mostly for the protagonist who held the politicians responsible. However, I did not do so many biopics. During all these years, I remember films like Ambedkar and Basheer as well as dramas of the time as Kerala Varma Pazhbadi Raja who were biopics. Yatra is also not a full-fledged biopic, because we are focusing solely on an event in YSR's life, "he explains.

It is clear that he will not actively participate in politics. "I've been in this industry for 38 years and I do not see any reason why I should go into politics now. Films are my policy, if I may allow myself. But as a citizen of this democratic country, we must all be aware of what is happening in our national and national political domain. "

Yatra is his first telugu film for almost 22 years after his broadcast.The lead role in the acclaimed film of K Vishwanath Swathi Kiranam released in 1992, and later Surya Putrlu (1997) He was supposed to play the lead role in the movie Kodi Ramakrishna's Railway Coolie, but the film was never finished, though it was approached for quite a bit of Telugu movies over the years, the actor states that he was not impressed by the roles that were offered him, until Yatra come to him "But I must say that I have always held Telugu cinema and its inhabitants in high esteem, people are very kind when it comes to accepting films from other languages. They do not care if it's a low-budget or low-budget movie, as long as the content appeals to them. filmmakers from all over the world Who knows, I might also try to double some of my Telugu films in the near future. It's another adventure for me, "he adds.

In recent years, the influx of newcomers to the Malayalam cinema has opened a new era of cinema and stories that filmmakers want to tell. And on top of that, the movie's audience became much more open about his opinion, thanks to the rise of social media. While Mammootty recognizes the power of social media, which offers everyone a platform to express their opinions, he is of the opinion that all that an actor can do is listen to his heart and not not repeat his mistakes. "You have to understand that as an actor, I can not choose an already complete movie, I can only choose a script, if everything is set up, then the movies work, otherwise they will fail. Like a TV, I'm just one of the thousands of components that have to work together to project a good quality image Being the face of a movie, it affects you a bit when movies fail. that you have been wrong in the process and that you are trying to correct your mistakes You will have to reinvent yourself over time I have changed a lot in the last 20 years It also depends on how well you see and expect from you, I try to do it all the time, "he confesses.

With his son, Dulquer Salmaan, taking giant steps in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and now in Hindi cinema, one might be forced to think that competition begins home to the father-son duo. However, Mammootty is getting fed up by saying, "Maybe the only thing we argue about is for his mother's sake."

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Publication date: 09 Feb 2019 09:08
| Last Updated: February 09, 2019 9:23 AM

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Date Updated: February 09, 2019 09:23:35 IST

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