Mammootty comes on stage to receive the Best Actor Award at the Kerala State Film Awards 2024 at the Nishagandhi Hall in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. The Padma Bhushan was conferred on the actor an hour before receiving the award. | Photo credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN
Four and a half decades is quite a long time for an actor to be at the top of his game. In 1981, Mammootty won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Ahimsa. On Sunday, he was about to receive his ninth state award for his menacing act in Bramayugam (2024) when news broke that he had been selected for the Padma Bhushan, the nation’s award for “distinguished service of a high order”. It was a fitting double honor for an actor who ranks among the greatest the country has produced.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the state government had been recommending Mr. Mammootty’s name for the Padma Bhushan for the past few years. “We are happy that he has finally received the Padma Bhushan this year. No other actor in Indian cinema has essayed such a wide range of roles as he has. Over the last four decades, he has won awards against actors from different generations,” he said.
After receiving the Best Actor award, Mr. Mammootty said it was an honor to win the award in an industry like Malayalam, which produces some of the country’s films.
Posted by Kamal Haasan
Congratulating Mr. Mammootty on his Padma Bhushan, actor Kamal Haasan wrote on X, “We have not acted together in any film. But we have respected each other from afar and criticized each other directly and maintained a close friendship for many years. As a fan of Mammootty, I expect my fans should also be his fans.”
My dear friend @mammukka He was awarded the Padma Bhushan. We never acted together. But I am ‘Kopperuncholan Bishirantiyar’ who admires him and he me from a distance and directly criticizes each other…
— Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) January 25, 2026
Mr. Mammootty, who started as a junior artist in KS Sethumadhavan’s Anubhavangal Palichakal (1971), had to fight the odds for over a decade before being cast as a solo hero in Munnettam (1981) and Thrishna (1981). In the decades that followed, he along with Mohanlal became the two pillars around which Malayalam cinema revolved, with a string of memorable performances in both commercial and independent cinema.
Unlike many image-conscious stars, Mr. Mammooty has shown over the years that he is not averse to portraying characters with a cruel or even repulsive touch, be it in Vidheyan (1994) or Puzhu (2022). So far he has won three National Film Awards for Best Actor.
Published – 25 Jan 2026 21:45 IST
