She calls it destiny. It was at a wedding that Mamta Mohandas’ parents bumped into Sreedevi Unni, mother of the late Monisha. That paved the way for a meeting with director Hariharan and she made her debut in tinseltown with ‘Mayookham.’ A handful of movies with all the super stars in the Malayalam industry happened in due course. Soon, Kollywood and Tollywood came calling. She made an impact there with her acting prowess and then got into playback singing. A Filmfare award knocked on her door after her first song in Telugu. The song ‘Daddy Mummy’ in the Vijay starrer ‘Villu’ was lapped up by the masses. And there’s more interesting things in the pipeline.
She calls it...destiny.
Actor and crooner Mamta Mohandas is now basking in the glory of the success of her latest release, ‘Passenger.’ “I was waiting for a good script in Malayalam. That’s why it took me a while to come to Mollywood after ‘Baba Kalyani’. ‘Passenger’ impressed me with it’s no-nonsense story. The presence of actor Sreenivasan, known for the hits he churns out with good scripts, was another reason why I took up the movie,” says the actress who dons the role of a journalist in the film.
Post ‘Passenger,’ Mamta has got a place for herself among the select class of heroines who’ve rubbed shoulders with the reigning super stars of Mollywood.
A career in filmdom happened by chance to the lass who always thought she’ll be a banker like her dad. “’Mayookham’ happened when I was on vacation. I never thought I’d go any further in tinselville. But I kinda liked being in the industry,” says Mamta who was born and brought up in Bahrain. Soon after her debut, offers came pouring in. ‘Bus Conductor’ with Mammootty happened next, followed by ‘Madhuchandralekha’ and ‘Lanka’, the latter with Suresh Gopi which was shrouded in controversy.
Says a smiling Mamta, “’Lanka’ showcases some of my best shots. It was a bold attempt from my side to do a very different role. If the movie was released at this point of my career, I think it would have fared better. Anyway, it’s my policy to take criticism in my stride.”
Mamta debuted in Kollywood with ‘Sivapathikaram’ which had Vishal playing the lead. “It was a safe movie to be in,” she says with a laugh. “An average hit, it did me neither good nor bad.” Last year, Mamta had six Telugu films. It was while auditioning for a Telugu film that composer Devi Sri Prasad discovered the singer in her. She sang the title track of a big budget Telugu film starring Junior NTR and it went on to become a huge hit.
“I was thrilled when I was nominated for the Filmfare award for my very first song.” With her song ‘Rakhee Rakhee’ in the film ‘Rakhee,’ Mamta, a trained Carnatic and Hindustani singer, impressed many.
However, her first Tamil song didn’t make an equally big impact. “The song ‘Kaalai Kaalai’ in the film ‘Kaalai’ was a melody number scored by G V Prakash, the immensely talented nephew of A R Rahman. The film didn’t do too well; so the song wasn’t all that popular.” But with ‘Daddy Mummy’ in ‘Villu’, Mamta the singer arrived in Kollywood.
Mamta is excited about ‘Guru En Aalu’, her recently released flick with Madhavan, getting good response. “Madhavan has always been a heart throb. I remember how keenly I used to watch his serials when I was in school. He’s such a passionate actor who spreads his energy and cheer in the entire unit.”
The actress known for her passion for mobikes (“All youngsters in Bahrain are crazy about it”) loves being at the Grand Prix and F1 races.
“I’d love to own bike but my mom will send me packing! I hope I’ll at least be able to marry a guy who shares the passion.” That brings us to the question of marriage. “I’m the only unmarried one among my cousins. So the pressure is mounting! I’d love to be associated with the industry even after marriage if not as an actor, as a singer, director or producer. Am planning to establish a business too.”
What’s coming up next?
“Post ‘Passenger,’ am flooded with offers and am listening to at least three or four scripts every day. Wonder where these people were all this time! Some day, I want to be part of a movie like ‘Devdas’ and play a character like Paro. I’ll be singing in an English album for composer Sunny Viswanath soon. As for films, if anything worthwhile comes my way, I’ll take it up.” says Mamta who dreams of working with bigwigs in the industry like Mani Ratnam and Priyadarshan.