THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Do you remember Balan from the movie ‘Kadha Parayumbol’? The childhood friend of superstar Asokraj, who longed to see the actor but was hesitant to make a move? Mammootty portrayed the role of the superstar while Sreenivasan played the role of Balan. Something similar, albeit slightly different, had actually happened in the superstar’s life.
K A Sasidharan’s story matches the one portrayed on the silver screen. Sasidharan was Mammootty’s senior at Maharajah’s College. Though Sasidharan passed away in 2006, the story of how he rechristened the superstar is very much alive.
In a television interview during the 90’s, Mammootty had revealed how he became Mammootty from Mohammedkutty. “During my Pre-degree days, I used to tell everyone that my name is Omar Sharif. In those years, the Hollywood movie Lawrence of Arabia was very popular and I thought naming myself after the lead actor of the movie will make me popular among the students. One day, while hanging out with my friends my college identity card fell from my pocket. One of my seniors, Sasidharan, took the card and read my name loudly. “Hey, his name is not Omar Sharif, it is Mohammedkutty. That means Mammootty. So from today onwards, let us call him Mammootty,” the actor reminisced.
The story was well-known at Sasidharan’s household even before the interview. Sasidharan used to tell his wife Kanakam and daughter Divya about the incident. “When my father told me the story when I was a child, I did not believe it. However, after the interview was telecast in Doordarshan, father pointed it out and said ‘do you people now believe it was true that I had given him the name ‘Mammootty’,” recollects Divya. The family is happy that the same incident was mentioned again in a write-up by actor Sreeraman, which was published by a film magazine this year.
Though he was an ardent Mammootty fan, Sasidharan never tried to meet the actor. “He was like that. He was a die hard fan of Mammootty and never missed any of his movies. He was happy to see someone who he knew climbing new heights in Mollywood. But he was hesitant to go and meet Mammootty because he was not sure that whether the actor will remember him or not. However, after the television interview, he told us that one day he will go and meet the superstar. That dream, however, remained unfulfilled and he passed away in 2006. He was an employee with Milma,” said Kanakam.
His family, comprising Kanakam, daughter and son-in-law said that they wish to see Mammootty one day.