When a man didn’t recognize Mammootty

Mammootty is one of Mollywood cinema’s biggest stars. He has been the face of Mollywood for several decades now. Which is why it would be surprising to know that one could not recognize him easily. An anecdote by Mammootty appeared in his memoir from the collection ‘Orma’ edited by Shelvi, and published by Mulberry Publications. Naseel Voici shared the actor’s old note on his Facebook page and it went viral!

The note read “I was driving from Kozhikode to Manjeri. It was already past midnight. I was driving at high speed as the road was clear, and there was the thrill of getting behind the wheels of my brand new car. As the car sped past a small junction, an old man suddenly jumped onto the road from the side of a small bridge and waved his hand. No one would have expected an old man to abruptly appear in front of our vehicle especially at the wee hours.” Mammootty then swiftly turned his car to the left and then to the right to prevent it from getting off the road. The car stopped with a jolt as Mammootty hit the break hard. Fortunately, the old man was not hit. The actor got out of the car and as he approached the old man to give him a piece of his mind, Mammootty noticed that the old man was constantly looking at someone who was lying near the bridge.

It was a young woman who looked battered, and she was in pain. “She is pregnant; I think she’s into labour. Please help me to take her to the hospital. Lord almighty will bless you,” said the old man as he was panting. Seeing the old man and the woman, who were helpless, the actor’s anger dissipated. He helped the woman into his car rushed to the nearby hospital. “I couldn’t bear the wailing of that young woman. The old man must have been over 70 and the woman looked just 20 years old. While talking to the old man, I understood that the woman was his granddaughter.

A few people rushed from inside the casualty of the Manjeri government hospital as they heard the car screeching to a halt at the porch. They took the woman out of the car and rushed her inside the hospital. In the midst of that chaos, and feeble lights, no one noticed me. When I was about to leave, the old man came near and said, ‘Thank you so much. Everything’s fine with the grace of God. What’s your name?’ ‘Mammootty’, I replied. But he still didn’t recognize me. Neither did he indicate that he had seen my face somewhere.” The old man had then told the actor that he was a labourer and the young woman was his granddaughter whose father was no more. Soon, the old man took out a piece of paper from the side of his ‘mundu’ and handed over to Mammootty. “Consider this as a token of my happiness,” saying this, the old man went inside the hospital with hurried steps. “It was a battered two rupee note. I still don’t know why he gave me that money.”

The conclusion of the not said ”Maybe it was the sum equivalent to the bus fare for two people. I still remember the old man and his two rupee note, which taught me the lesson that the real worth of remuneration or reward do not lie in the currency but in the honest hearts of those who give it to us”.

Isn’t it an interesting story about Mammootty’s life? What do you think?