‘Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam’ by Lijo Jose Pellissery comes as an abrupt awakening in the midst of a daydream. Just as he strides along the cow-dung-strewn streets of rural Tamil Nadu and arrives home, he changes the white dhoti with a ‘lungi’ and applies 'vibhuti' on his forehead. The James of Muvattupuzha transforms into Sundaram, a rural Tamilian, in the blink of an eye.

As appreciations and acknowledgement pour in for that improbable metamorphosis on the screen, it marks the eighth state film award for Mammootty. While six of those were for the ‘Best Actor’ category, one was the special jury mention, and the other was for ‘Second Best Actor’. Incidentally, the award this year marks the end of a 14-year-long hiatus after the one for ‘Paleri Manikyam’ in 2010.

Mammootty won his first state film award for the best actor in 1985 for his performance in the movie ‘Adiyozhukkukal’. From there, he went on to win national awards thrice.

The veteran actor was busy shooting for his upcoming movie ‘Bazooka’ at the Nedumbassery Golf Course while the news of the award poured in. The movie marks the directorial debut of Deenu Dennis, son of veteran screenwriter Kaloor Dennis. Mammootty had joined the set there straight after attending the funeral service of former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy at Kottayam.

As soon as he received a call from producer Anto Joseph to convey the media enquiries over the award, the actor requested for an exception. “One of my beloved friends has just departed. There will be no celebrations. Please inform the media,” he replied.

He returned from the sets soon afterwards and even as he reached his home in Kochi, director Lijo Jose Pellissery was waiting for him there after learning about the award.

With attention-capturing roles varying from mass to class, Mammootty engrossed the screens in 2022 – the year when he returned to the big screen and reinvented himself after a 275-day pandemic-induced hiatus. Bheeshma Parvam, CBI 5 the brain, Puzhu, Rorschach, Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam, and Christopher were the movies he did during this period.

While Luke Anthony of ‘Rorschach’ and Michaelappan of ‘Bheeshma Parvam’ drew the crowd back to cinemas, Mammootty defied his star value to perform as Kuttan in ‘Puzhu’, directed by Ratheena.

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