Mammootty's fourth National Award crowns his boldest career phase

The fourth National Film Award did not arrive for the Mammootty many grew up watching. It arrived for the Mammootty who has spent the last decade quietly dismantling that image.

For much of his career, Mammootty has been defined by reinvention. Every phase has produced a different version of the actor: the intense performer of the 1980s, the larger-than-life superstar of the 1990s, the dependable commercial hero of the 2000s and, more recently, an artist who appears liberated from the burden of stardom. His Best Actor win at the 72nd National Film Awards for 'Bramayugam', shared with Kartik Aaryan for 'Chandu Champion', feels significant because it recognises not just a single performance but a creative journey that has been unfolding for years.

There was a time when Mammootty's filmography seemed caught between formula and familiarity. While the occasional success reaffirmed his popularity, many of his choices leaned heavily on the conventions expected of a superstar. The turning point was not one film but a gradual shift in attitude. Instead of asking what audiences expected from Mammootty, he began asking what he had not done before.

That curiosity has produced one of the most fascinating late-career transformations in Indian cinema. 'Peranbu' saw him shed every trace of heroism to play a father overwhelmed by circumstance. 'Puzhu' cast him as a deeply flawed man consumed by prejudice. 'Rorschach' refused to explain whether its protagonist was driven by grief or obsession. 'Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam' placed him inside one of Lijo Jose Pellissery's most unconventional narratives, while 'Kaathal – The Core' challenged long-held ideas of masculinity by portraying a middle-aged man confronting his sexuality. None of these films relied on the comfort of image. They relied on the actor's willingness to be vulnerable, unlikeable and, at times, deeply mysterious.

'Bramayugam' became the boldest extension of that philosophy.

When Rahul Sadasivan approached Mammootty with a monochrome folk horror rooted in Kerala's feudal past, he was not offering him a conventional lead role. Kodumon Potti is neither hero nor anti-hero. He is an unsettling presence who dominates a decaying mana where power flows through fear, manipulation and the supernatural. Sadasivan has said he conceived the film only in black and white and wrote the character with Mammootty in mind, believing the actor could inhabit a role that depended more on psychological control than spectacle.

That faith was rewarded.

Kodumon Potti is terrifying not because the film asks him to terrify us, but because Mammootty refuses to explain him. There is no attempt to soften the character or offer convenient emotional cues. The actor allows the mystery to remain intact, making the audience discover the man through his actions rather than his motivations. Even in a film filled with folklore, ritual and supernatural imagery, Kodumon Potti never feels mythical. He feels disturbingly human.

Audiences recognised that quality almost immediately. While many praised 'Bramayugam' for its striking black-and-white cinematography and oppressive atmosphere, they also noted that the film's emotional weight rested on Mammootty's willingness to disappear into a character that resisted easy interpretation. Rather than playing a conventional villain, he created someone who seemed to exist outside familiar categories of good and evil.

Perhaps that is why this National Award feels inevitable in hindsight. Mammootty has won before, for literary adaptations like 'Mathilukal', for morally complex dramas such as 'Vidheyan' and 'Ponthan Mada', and for his portrayal of Dr B.R. Ambedkar. Each recognised an actor pushing against the limits of what Malayalam cinema expected from him. 'Bramayugam' belongs comfortably in that company, yet it also says something new about where Mammootty stands today.

He is no longer chasing milestones. He is chasing unfamiliar ground.

That pursuit of unfamiliar ground is what separates Mammootty from many of his contemporaries. Indian cinema has no shortage of stars with extraordinary longevity, but few have been as willing to dismantle the very image that sustained their popularity. As actors grow older, their films often become exercises in preserving legacy, carefully reinforcing the qualities audiences have always admired. Mammootty has taken a different route. His recent work suggests an actor who has become increasingly comfortable with uncertainty, even if it means surrendering the reassuring aura of the superstar.

There is an interesting symmetry between the beginning of his career and where he finds himself today. When Mammootty entered Malayalam cinema in the early 1970s, he was not an overnight sensation. His rise was built on a succession of directors who recognised an actor capable of disappearing into characters rather than merely projecting charisma. Films such as 'Yavanika', 'Mela', 'Adiyozhukkukal', 'New Delhi', 'Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha' and 'Mathilukal' established him as one of Indian cinema's finest performers because they demanded transformation, not repetition. Even after stardom arrived, the actor never completely abandoned that instinct. It resurfaced whenever his career appeared to settle into predictability.

Kodumon Potti is not memorable because he is frightening. He is memorable because Mammootty refuses to make him either heroic or understandable. The character remains elusive until the very end, and that refusal to provide easy answers is what gives the performance its lasting power.

Awards inevitably become milestones, but they rarely tell the whole story of an artist. Mammootty's career has never been defined by the number of trophies on his shelf. It has been defined by an unusual ability to recognise when it is time to change course. Every time audiences believed they understood him, he found another version of himself to explore.

That is why this National Award feels different. It does not celebrate a veteran looking back on a glorious career. It honours an actor who, 55 years after his debut, continues to move forward with the curiosity of someone who still believes his most interesting role might be the next one. In an industry where longevity often breeds caution, Mammootty has turned it into freedom. 'Bramayugam' is not the culmination of that journey. It is simply the latest reminder that one of Indian cinema's greatest actors has never stopped searching.