Mammootty & his ‘unknown’ politics: What prompted the latest controversy against the actor

The chairperson’s room at the office of the Kairali TV in Thiruvananthapuram is vacant on most days of the year. It is opened when Mammootty, one of the biggest stars of Malayalam cinema, comes to take his place in the office. He has retained the post of chairman, Malayalam Communications Ltd (which manages Kairali) for 26 years but has never openly come out as a voice of the Left Democratic Front that the channel is a mouthpiece for. Yet, he has been regarded as close to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leading the Left front, because of this long association. Perhaps, and especially, because of that, Mammootty has been at the receiving end of a barrage of criticism from supporters of the Left in recent months, after a few incidents appeared to distance him from the party. 

Most recently, it was Mammootty’s visit to the house of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader B Gopalakrishnan on the occasion of his daughter’s wedding that triggered a cyberattack against the actor. A video showing him paying a friendly visit to Gopalakrishnan was not received well. Comments appeared below random posts on his Facebook, labelling him a Sangh Parivar sympathiser and contrasting him against the likes of Prakash Raj and Kamal Haasan, actors who have been vocal against right-wing fascism.

Mammootty was also ridiculed earlier this year for insulting CPI(M) leader K Rafeeq. That happened in March when the LDF was still in power and Mammootty had paid a visit to the Wayanad rehabilitation township for survivors of the landslide. In a video, he was heard rebuking Rafeeq for standing by his side since that would give the impression that the actor was ‘their man’.

Although Rafeeq cleared the air and said that Mammootty later called to make peace, supporters of the Left continue to bring it up every time the actor is spotted at events or places hosted by the BJP. In September his photo in front of the Statue of Unity, envisioned by the BJP leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Gujarat in honour of Sardar Vallabhai Patel, was also not received well. But this was brushed off as an innocent visit paid by the actor while he was in Gujarat to collect his National Award from the President of India and the ceremony was hosted at a venue facing the statue.  

However, the visit to Gopalakrishnan’s house is not viewed in the same light. Gopalakrishnan has made communal comments in the past, including against Mammootty. Last year, when the State Film Awards were announced, he had listed the recipients with Muslim names, including Mammootty, in a critical post. Gopalakrishnan deleted the post after Mammootty’s visit to his house last week.

Mammootty has not responded to the cyber attack, but CPI(M) leader Thomas Isaac said that there was no need to intervene in personal visits of the actor. He added that the attacks were not made by any of the official handles of the CPI(M) and that anyone could make unofficial statements for the party. “One of the great actors of Keralam, he has always maintained a friendship with the Left and the CPI(M) wishes to continue that relationship,” Isaac said. 

Only once has Mammootty reportedly made a remark in favour of the party – this was in 2007 when he attended the national conference of the Democratic Youth Federation of India, the youth wing of the CPI(M). According to a report in the Gulf News, the actor said during the event that the 2002 Gujarat riots, allegedly orchestrated by the BJP and in which hundreds of Muslims were killed, would not have happened if the DYFI was present there.

Keralam has famously always kept its actors and politicians in separate spaces, no stardom ever mighty enough to impress the average voter to allow a crossover. A few actors have made the move, but not quite reached the ministry level. Mammootty, who has never taken any steps towards a political career, has attended public events and made articulate speeches.

Last year, when the government of Keralam declared that the state had eradicated extreme poverty, Mammootty was invited as the chief guest and lauded the social awareness and brotherhood of the people that made every such achievement possible. In the same breath, he reminded the government that we were only free of extreme poverty and poverty was still before us, and that better roads or bigger buildings had no meaning as long as there were ‘hungry stomachs’ among us. 

Although he has never spoken about religion, he is known to observe fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. In his films, of course, he has embraced all sorts of religions and castes and depicted them with such conviction that he is a winner of 11 State Awards and four National Awards for Best (Male) Actor. 

He has also played a diehard Communist in movies like Ormakulundayirikkanam (1995), and a committed politician in films like Nayam Vyakthamakkunnu (1991). In 2021, he played the Chief Minister of Keralam in a political drama called One, towards the end of which his character tables a Right to Recall bill that empowers voters to have corrupt ministers or legislators removed before their five-year term.