Editor's note: Backstory is Onmanorama's special year-ender video series. Here, our reporters recall their memorable experiences in 2019. Watch all videos here.

When the makers of the big-budget movie Mamangam unveiled Mammotty's female avatar recently, it became an instant sensation on the internet. It also opened up a discussion on Mammootty's previous role as a woman. It triggered rumours that this was not Mammootty's first female look and he had acted a woman in the 1983-movie Onnu Chirikkoo, directed by PG Viswambharan.

It aroused my curiosity. In order to catch a glimpse of the actor's female avatar, I watched the whole movie. But unfortunately, I could not find even a single scene in the two-and-a-half-hour movie.

Did I miss the scene? I checked with many in the Malayalam film industry, but almost all of them said they were unaware of it.

My inquiry yielded result when a person told me the story behind Mammootty's female makeover.

He told me that during the film shoot, Mammooty saw actress Sukumari at the shooting location. He was sporting a clean-shaven face. Out of curiosity, Mammootty asked make-up artist P Venu to dress him up like Sukumari. Photographer from Nana film magazine, who was present at the location, clicked the photograph for eternity. The makers had actually wanted to include the scene, but later dropped the plan for reasons not known.

(This story was first published on December 29, 2019.)

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