74 year old Mammootty says graduating to senior roles gave more choice than romantic leads: ‘No fun in playing hero’

After a break due to ill health, Mammootty is back to form as he promotes his upcoming film Kalamkaval, in which he plays a villain.

Malayalam superstar Mammootty is back after a brief break he took due to an unspecified illness for which he was undergoing treatment. Back in form, the 74-year-old actor is now promoting his upcoming film Kalamkaval, which will be released in theatres on December 5. In a promotional video shared by his production house, Mammootty Kampany, the actor spoke about how transitioning to senior roles gave him more leeway as an actor.

Mammootty spoke about his upcoming film Kalamkaval and his career.

Mammootty on transitioning to senior roles

Mammootty has often juggled roles in his career, playing both romantic leads and action heroes, as well as characters that are completely different. However, the actor says that now transitioning completely to senior roles has given him more choices. Giving the example of playing the villainous Chathan in Bramayugam (2024), Mammootty said that there’s no fun in playing the usual commercial hero anymore.

“If I ask for a role where I want to play a romantic interest, it will be given. But there’s no fun in that. After a period of time, when you graduate to senior roles, you get a lot more choice, more variations. A hero will have limitations; it has changed a bit now. But the villain has none. In this film, I play a character whom I won’t call a villain, but he’s not a good soul,” he said, speaking about playing the lead in Kalamkaval.

When asked where he finds the courage to break the star image and play such roles, he replied, “We do things like this not out of courage, but out of desire. I don’t want to ignore the actor in me; he should be properly fed. I want to satisfy the actor in me above all else. I don’t deny that it made me a star, but I only got there because of this. I have no objection to being called a star, but being an actor is my preference.”

Kalamkaval is not Cyanide Mohan’s story

When the film was announced and the promotional material was released, many believed that Kalamkaval was about the dreaded serial killer Cyanide Mohan. The rumour of the killer in the film having 21 victims only fuelled the fact. However, Mammootty denied that his film had anything to do with the heinous case from the early 2000s.

“This character is associated with many people; yes, there are 21 women he interacts with in the film. We might not show them all, but they’re there. This film, though, has nothing to do with Cyanide Mohan’s case,” said Mammootty, adding, “Yes, the killer uses cyanide in the film. But it is only a story of someone like him. We have been inspired by real events, but it’s not his story.”

Kalamkaval is directed by Jithin K Jose, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Jishnu Sreekumar. It stars Mammootty and Vinayakan in the lead roles, along with Gibin Gopinath, Gayatri Arun and Rajisha Vijayan.