How did Muhammad Kutty, who wanted to be known as Omar Sharif, become Mammootty? Star reveals his story

Upon joining college, Mammootty felt his real name, Muhammad Kutty, was quite old-fashioned, so he began telling everyone it was Omar Sharif.

Mammootty recently revealed how he got his iconic screen name. (Credit: Facebook/@Mammootty)

“What’s in a name?” Legendary playwright William Shakespeare wrote in his tragedy Romeo and Juliet. But Malayalam megastar Mammootty’s life stands as a testament to the significance of a name in one’s life. It cannot be dismissed as a mere coincidence that a person named Muhammad Kutty, who desperately wanted to be rechristened Omar Sharif and was briefly forced to use the screen name Sajin, came to be known by a nickname one of his friends gave him in teasing. Can we now imagine his name to be anything but Mammootty? Or, as fans endearingly call him, Mammukka? Maybe this is what people describe as fate.

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Upon joining college, since he felt that Muhammad Kutty was quite old-fashioned, he began telling everyone that his name was Omar Sharif (like the legendary Egyptian actor, best known for his performance in the 1962 movie Lawrence of Arabia). He tried his best to conceal his real name from others, and his efforts somehow yielded positive results for the longest time. In a recent event, the Malayalam megastar fondly recalled how his plan backfired, and he ended up earning the nickname Mammootty, short for Muhammad Kutty.

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While in college, he accidentally dropped his college ID card one day, and a friend noticed his real name on it. “He immediately was like, ‘You are not Sharif, your name is Mammootty,'” the actor shared while inaugurating the second edition of Manorama Hortus. Although Malayalees were familiar with this tale, what happened next blew everyone’s minds. Mammootty himself revealed to the world the friend who gave him his iconic name.

“The friend who named me Mammootty is right here. His name is Sasidharan,” the megastar revealed as a man in a tucked-in shirt and trousers stood up among the audience with folded hands and an ear-to-ear smile. Mammootty continued, “Many people have claimed credit for my name, even written about that in papers. But it was this man. I have guarded him like a secret, held him back all these years like a surprise.”

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Following his two uncredited appearances in Anubhavangal Paalichakal (1971) and Kaalachakram (1973), his name first appeared in the cast list on the title card in Vilkkanundu Swapnangal (1980). Although his next movie, KG George’s Mela (1980), also had his name as Mammootty, director PG Viswambharan, who helmed his subsequent film, felt that it did not suit an actor. Thus, he was credited as Sajin in Viswambharan’s Sphodanam (1981), with Mammootty written in brackets alongside. However, that did not catch on, and he was back to Mammootty in no time.

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With the success of director IV Sasi’s Thrishna (1981) and winning his maiden Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actor for his performance in Ahimsa (1981), Mammootty managed to etch his name forever in the hearts of Malayalam movie audiences. In an extraordinary career spanning over five decades, he has appeared in more than 400 films and earned the National Film Award for Best Actor thrice, the second most by any actor. He has also won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor a record seven times.

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