Mammootty Movies
- 2003
A young man tries to unlearn all of the lies told to him by his late father's enemy in this Bollywood epic. Chronic Bachelor stars Mammootty as Sathyaprathapan, an ambitious businessman struggling to come to terms with his childhood and the vicious untruths spread by Neelakantan (Mohan Ayiroor). Once, he even loved Neelakantan's daughter, but with the help of a new flame, Sathyaprathpan is able to put his family history in its right place. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mammootty
- 2000
I Have Found It, Rajiv Menon's second feature, is an updated "Kollywood" (Southern India's Tamil-language version of Bollywood) take on Jane Austen's classic novel Sense and Sensibility. Tabu stars as Sowmya, the practical but pessimistic, levelheaded older sister, while former Miss World Aishwarya Rai (who also starred in the British Bollywood-style Austen adaptation, Bride and Prejudice) plays her romantically idealistic younger sister, Meenakshi. Sowmya has had a run of bad luck with potential suitors. This culminates in an embarrassing case of mistaken identity when Manohar (Ajith), a young filmmaker, arrives at her family home intending to ask permission to use it as a shooting location, and is mistaken for a prospective groom. Impressed with the young man's directness, Sowmya accepts his "proposal." Manohar finds himself drawn to the beautiful, depressive woman he's inadvertently humiliated, but insists on completing his first film before legitimately proposing to marry her. He has Sowmya pick his title ("Speed!"), but has a great deal of trouble finding support for his proposed suspense flick. For her part, Meenakshi is waiting for the perfect man to arrive and sweep her off her feet. She only tolerates the attentions of Major Bala (Mammootty), an older gentleman who lost his leg in battle, and owns a nearby flower plantation. He serendipitously encourages her to study music, but she falls for the younger, slicker Srikanth (Abbas), who quotes her favorite poetry, but disappears when his banking business runs into trouble. Acclaimed composer A.R. Rahman (Lagaan) did the music for the film. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aishwarya Rai
- 1994
This film, set in a remote traditional village in South India in the 1960's, examines the implications of servitude in relation to individuality, politics and society. Thommie, his wife beautiful wife Omana, and their small son are poor migrants in the state of Karnataka. The village in which they live is run by the cruel, power mad chief, Bhaskar Patelar. To reinforce his dominion over the town, Bhaskar picks Thommie as an example. Before the whole town, Thommie is whipped into submission. Thommie becomes an ally of Bhaskar even though he knows that the chief is manipulating him. To further subjugate Thommie, Bhaskar rapes Omana and makes her watch as he murders his own wife, Saroja. In time the chief's actions spur an uprising and he is brutally killed. Only after Bhaskar's death does Thommie begin to understand the concept of true freedom. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mammootty, Gopha Kumar, (more)
- 1990
Inspired by a fact-based novella by South Indian writer and revolutionary Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, this meditation on the nature of freedom by director Adoor Gopalakrishnan takes place during Basheer's political imprisonment in the 1940's. Using his considerable charm and fame, Basheer (Mammootty) befriends everyone from prison guards to hardened criminals, making his life behind bars relatively tolerable until his fellow political prisoners begin to be released, and he is left alone in the compound. His loneliness is relieved, however, by the surprising sound of a woman's voice from beyond the wall. She is a prisoner in the adjacent women's prison, and Basheer strikes up an affectionate relationship with his unseen counterpart, which blossoms into something like a love affair. ~ Tom Vick, All Movie Guide
- 1986
A narrative experiment following the psychological unraveling of a sensitive young man, Monologue is told from the point of view of Ajayan. Abandoned by his mother at birth, he is raised in luxury and affection by the doctor who delivered him. As a boy, he precocious nature and sharp wit get him into continuous trouble, and when he grows older a gnawing sense of loss brought on by his inability to connect to other people pushes him to the edge of neurosis. At this point the story begins again, this time emphasizing different details and changing others altogether, until it becomes impossible to separate the truth from Ajayan's troubled imagination. ~ Tom Vick, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ashokan
