It’s high time Mammootty understands he can’t play young Michael Corleone anymore

Mammukka has proven age is just a number. The number of films he signs and the number of his films that get released every year will set some professional goals for the younger generation actors. He works really hard to entertain his fans by doing as many films as possible. But, for the actor of his stature, quality is way more important than quantity, no?

Mammukka has seemingly been off his game by making not-so-wise decisions in selecting his movies. Arguably, Pathemari that released in 2015 was the last film that lived up to the expectations of the audience. Today, Mammukka is under pressure to revive his fading charm at the box office and prove himself as an actor.

Questionable choices of films

Let’s see how well, Mammukka fares compared to his much younger colleague Mohanlal in picking up right scripts at the right time.

While Mammukka was reeling under a major controversy sparked by his 2016 film Kasaba for its blatant misogyny, Mohanlal was busy accepting the appreciation for his film Oppam. Lalettan’s crime drama ran for over 100 days at the theaters and had a worldwide collection of more than Rs 60 crore. And Mammukka’s almost immediate release after Kasaba was a disaster called White. Enough said. The same year Mohanlal delivered a surprise box-office juggernaut, Pulimurugan. Pulimurugan became the first ever film in the history of the Malayalam film industry to collect Rs 100 crore.

While Mammukka was going through one of the rough patches in his long and decorated career, Mohanlal delivered five biggest blockbusters (Janatha Garage, Oppam, Pulimurugan, Manyam Puli and Munthirivallikal Thalirkkumbol, which was his first release in 2017) in just five months. It was a record in itself. Not that Lalettan is the wisest actor in Indian cinema. He did make some poor movies such as 1971: Beyond Borders and Villian.

But, his no two films look the same. He played a godfather-esque role in Janatha Garage and let the young actors do all the action. And in Pulimurugan his performance in stunt sequences gave young actors a run for their money. And in his next, Munthirivallikal Thalirkkumbol, he treated the audience with a story of a middle-class family, that dealt with the subject of infidelity without an iota of vulgarity. The films that came this, did not live up to the standards that he set for himself in the recent outings. But, 1971: Beyond Borders, Velipadinte Pusthakam and Villian, they were all different films and showed Mohanlal in different variations.

Mammootty also did films from genres like comedy, crime, revenge, and family drama but none of his films in recent years have been worth remembering.

It’s time to stop playing “youthful” roles.

Maybe it is the cue for Mammootty to stop playing characters half his age. He may not look like an actor in his late 60s but his body is not the same that it was 20 years ago. It has aged and the limitations of his age have started showing up in the films he does. It is about time, the actor of his stature acknowledge his limitations and be more realistic and reasonable in choosing his characters. He should know that if he were to audition today for The Godfather, he will be better off doing Vito Corleone. Irrespective of how badly as an actor he wants to play the role of Michael Corleone.

The teaser of Masterpiece has dropped and it shows Mammukka trying to behave like a 30-year-old. We’ve seen him do it hundreds of times in the past. And we have plenty of young actors who can play angry “young” man roles better than Mammukka with more grace and strength today. But, what we have not seen his Mammukka playing roles that are appropriate to his age and the swag that he can bring to his characters that can make being 60 looks super cool.

It is about time, Mammukka frees himself from the conventional shackles of his stardom and takes a new approach towards his career. There is no shame in even drawing a lesson or two from his son Dulquer Salmaan, who says he is “afraid to make an out-and-out commercial film.” Given that Dulquer’s films are memorable, even when they tank at the box office, they will still have a place in the library of good cinema. And Mammukka has done one too many films lately that even hard-core fans will find it completely unfair to defend them against the critics.

Even Rajinikanth has started playing roles that match his actual age.