Mammootty was born in Chembu near Vaikom in the Kottayam district of former state Travancore-Cochin, India in a middle class Muslim family to Ismail, an agriculturist, and Fatima, a housewife on September 7, 1953. Along with his siblings, he grew up in Chempu, Vaikom. He did his high school(pre-degree) at Maharajas College, Kochi, and then studied law at Ernakulam Government Law College. He also practiced law for two years in Manjeri. He married Sulfath in 1980 and has a daughter, Surumi (1982) and a son, Dulquar Salman (1986)
Mammootty's first screen appearance was in 1971 in Anubhavangal Paalichakal, directed by K. S. Sethumadhavan. However his role was uncredited. He was a student at the Maharajas College then. In 1973, he got another role in Kalachakram, a Prem Nazir movie directed by K. Narayanan.
His professional film career began in 1979, when he played his first lead role in Devalokam, directed by veteran M. T. Vasudevan Nair. However, this film was never released. Vilkanundu Swapnangal, written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair and directed by M. Azad was Mammootty's first notable film. His roles in Mela, directed by K.G.George where he played a Circus artist, and Thrishna , directed by I.V. Sasi got him noticed as a hero.
In 1982, his role of a police officer in the investigative thriller Yavanika (1982) directed by K. G. George was the beginning of a trend whereby Mammootty would play the role of a tough cop in many action and investigative thrillers in the coming years.
In 1981, he got his first state award in the Best Supporting Actor category for his performance in Ahimsa.
The period 1982-1986 saw Mammootty evolve into a commercially viable hero in mainstream Malayalam cinema. Padmarajan’s Koodevide and Joshy’s Aa Raathri were highly successful in the box office. His performances in films like Aalkootathil Thaniye and Adiyozhukkukal, scripted by M.T.Vasudevan Nair established him as an actor of substance.
In a period of five years from 1982 to 1986 Mammootty acted in more than 150 films as a hero, and most of them are super hits.
His role as Karunan in Adiyozhukkukal directed by I.V. Sasi, written by M. T. got him State Award and Filmfare Award in the Best Actor category. Mammootty won the State special jury award and best actor Filmfare award for Yathra directed by Balu Mahendra in which he played the role of a forest officer. His other notable movies of 80s were Nirakkoottu(1985), New Delhi(1987) and Thaniyavarthanam(1987).
New Delhi was a very important movie of his career being one of the biggest hit in the history of Malayalam Cinema. The film was loosely based on the novel, "The Almighty" by Irving Wallace.
In 1988 Mammootty delivered one of the biggest hits in the history of Malayalam Cinema with his Oru CBI Diary Kurippu. Oru CBI Diary Kurippu went on to create box-office history in Kerala as well as in Tamil Nadu. Following the success of the first CBI film Oru CBI Diary Kurippu, three more murder mystery sequels were produced with the same cast of characters: Jagratha (1989), Sethurama Iyer CBI (2004) and Nerariyan C.B.I (2005), all directed by K Madhu, penned by S.N. Swamy with Mammootty as Sethurama Iyer, an intelligent but unassuming CBI officer. Two of M.T. Vasudevan Nair’s films with autobiographical elements were acted by Mammootty. One was Aksharangal directed by I.V. Sasi and the other was Sukrutham directed by Harikumar.
Mammootty touched the pinnacle of his career in Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha; the film was directed by T.Hariharan and penned by M.T.Vasudevan Nair. His depiction of a Chekavar (mercenary warrior) of distinguished valor but vilified by circumstances won him the national award. Mammootty's performance in Mathilukal directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan was also considered for the award. His role as a hunter Varunni in Mrugaya, directed by I.V. Sasi, and another film Mahayanam, were also considered for the state award. Mammootty won the filmfare award for his performance in Amaram, directed by Bharathan.
Mammootty received his second national award for his performances in Adoor Gopalakrishnan's Vidheyan and TV Chandran's Ponthan Mada. He also received state award for his roles in both films. His performance in Valtsalyam directed by Cochin Haneefa was also considered for the State award.
Mammootty won his third national award for Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar, an English language movie about the life of Ambedkar, directed by Jabbar Patel. The film was sponsored by National Film Development Corporation of India and the Ministry of Social Justice.
Jabbar Patel comments on Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and Mammootty:
“ Anyone who has seen the film will agree that Dr Ambedkar could not have been possible without Mammootty. How did the filmmaker settle on him? I was making a film in English and I went all around the world, met and saw actors in Canada, United States and United Kingdom. Physically, many actors in America came close but I was not sure about how they would portray the whole sensibility and inner turmoil. I was also not happy about the gestures. I had shortlisted 2-3 people and knew that it would be troublesome as I would have to get them here and train them. So I was not really happy. Then I decided to do something about Mammootty, who was hiding in my mind for a very long time. ”
Mammootty won the state award for his portrayal of Operator Madhavan in Kazhcha. Rajamanikyam directed by debutant Anwar Rasheed, was touted as the biggest hit of all time in the Malayalam cinema. In 2006, Mammootty filmed Thuruppugulan in which the character Gulan became a rage among the kids and a cartoon series on the character 'super gulan' was started by a kids comics. On October 2009, Pazhassi Raja directed by T Hariharan and written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair was released.
Mammootty has acted in a few non Malayalam movies and these include some Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and English films. In 1989, he made his Tamil debut in Maunam Sammatham, directed by K. Madhu . He has acted in Tamil films with front-line directors of the industry like K. Balachander(Azhagan) and Mani Ratnam(Thalapathy). His performance along with Tamil Superstar Rajinikanth in Thalapathi made him a favourite among the Tamil audience. Fazil directed Kilippechu Kekkavaa(1993) had Mammootty as a romantic hero. In 1995 Mammootty had a surprise blockbuster in the form of R.K.Selvamani directed Makkal Aatchi[citation needed]. In Kandukondain Kandukondain, directed by Rajiv Menon, his performance as Captain Bala opposite Aishwarya Rai was considered the show stealer. Aanandham directed by N. Linguswamy had Mammootty in the role of a family man.
Mammootty has acted in a few forgettable films in Tamil . Puthayal(1996) (a film on treasure hunt), Junior-Senior(2002)(a love triangle), Viswatulasi (2004)(a mature love story) were all made with impressive starcast but were critical and commercial disasters.
He made his foray into Hindi films through Thriyathri in [1989]. However, his maiden Bollywood film as hero, Dhartiputra went unnoticed., nonetheless made his presence felt on the national level with the biographical film on Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar directed by Jabbar Patel. Mammootty's Sau Jhooth Ek Sach won critical acclaim but the film didn't do well at the box office. Mammootty's Telugu film Swathi Kiranam an offbeat venture was well received by the audience and critics.
The movie Mathilukal ('The Walls') has been shown in almost 40 International Film festival beginning with Venice. Adoor Gopalakrishnan, the director of the movie said:
“ Among my films, it is Mathilukal which has invited the maximum number of international honors. The sincere co-operation by Mammootty, the actor has played a major role in the success of the movie".
It was well received upon screening at the Venice International Film Festival, and won four awards in 1990.
Vidheyan, the cinematic adaptation of the novel "Bhaskara Pattelarum Ente Jeevithavum" by Malayalam writer Paul Zachariah explores the master-slave dialectic in a South Karnataka setting. The film won the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, along with the Interfilm Award - Honorable Mention at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival.
His remarks during the 2006 IIFA Awards ceremony held at Dubai had gained a lot of media and public attention. He openly criticized the organizers of the IIFA Awards for completely ignoring South Indian films. Mammootty suggested that the Bollywood film industry stand up to competition from the South Indian film industry before calling itself International. He commented:
“ Indian cinema is not just Bollywood, and Hindi is not the only language. Why should our films be called South Indian cinema instead of being under the banner of Indian films?
Mammootty is involved in more than half a dozen philanthropic projects aimed at helping the needy people.
Mammootty is the patron of the Pain and Palliative care Society, a charitable organization in Kerala formed with the aim of improving the quality of life among patients with advanced cancer. He has been the fuel and the engine of the pain and Palliative care centre, situated at Kozhikode, India. Thousands of people are getting the benefits which the institution is providing. Mammootty has now put forth a novel project to provide the pain and palliative care to those suffering from cancer, living all over Kerala.
Mammootty is the ambassador of Jeevan Jothi - a social work project aimed at providing aid to people who are seeking treatment for any Ophthalmic diseases, Heart (cardiac) orthopedic diseases, liver diseases, renal dysfunctions, Haemophilia diseases, ENT disorders.
Mammootty is the goodwill ambassador of a charity project "Street India Movement", which is aimed at the eradication of child begging and Child labor. He has promoted the activities of the movement, which networks with orphanages and institutions looking after the children.
Kazhcha is a venture to extend free eye care and treatment to the neglected and downtrodden people of the society. This event is the first of its kind in India, organized in the name of an actors’ fans association. Kazhcha 06-07, is maintained by Mammootty Fans Welfare Association & Mammootty Times, in association with Little Flower Hospital & Research Centre and Eye Bank Association of Kerala. Under this project, around 10,000 people will be receiving free eye treatment and 1000 poor patients will have the opportunity to undergo cataract surgeries free of cost at Little Flower Hospital, Angamaly. The actual cost of each of these surgeries is around Rs.8000/-. In addition to this, all eligible patients, who are selected for surgery, will be given free accommodation, food, medicines and conveyance. This project also includes various programmes to prevent childhood blindness in society. One of the major activities related to this is distribution of free spectacles to the children from socially and economically backward families. The special fund received from the office of the President of India will be utilized for this purpose. Free eye camps will also be conducted at various places in connection to this project.
