Throwback stories from popular stars are always a delight for fans, especially if they are from their early days of working in cinema. Actor Mammootty recently shared one such story on Instagram while posting a colour corrected screengrab that the actor had received from someone. Interestingly, this visual is from his very first cinema appearance. Mammootty thanked the person and wrote, “Big thanks to the person who did this. This is a screengrab from my first ever appearance on celluloid. Colour corrected from black and white.”
The actor, who is only a young boy in the photograph, is seen with a hurt lip. The still is from the film Anubhavangal Paalichakal that released in 1971. Scripted by Thoppil Bhasi and directed by KS Sethumadhavan, the film’s story is based on a novel of the same name written by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai. With stellar casting, it is one of the best Malayalam films from the '70s.
Anubhavangal Paalichakal, meaning shattered experiences, starred veteran actor Sathyan, Prem Nazeer, Sheela, KPAC Lalitha among others. This film was also Sathyan’s last, with the actor dying before his portions could be completed.
About his brief time with Sathyan, Mammootty wrote, “This brings back such vivid memories from another time. I had the rare privilege to be in the same film as Sathyan master. In fact I remember touching his feet once when he was asleep, resting between shots.” Mammootty played a minor role in the film.
Between 1971 and 1980, Mammootty did a handful of films, some of which he wasn’t credited for. In 1973, he appeared in K Narayanan’s Kalachakram. In 1979, he played his very first significant role in MT Vasudevan Nair’s Devalokam but this film, unfortunately, was never completed. Around this time, he was also practising as a lawyer in Majeri. His big break came in 1981 when he received his first state award in the Best Supporting Actor category for his performance in Ahimsa directed by IV Sasi and written by Damodaran