Small is always beautiful

    

  "Less is more" says English poet Robert Browning.This concept is more applicable to the field of cinema.Not all big heroes attract the audience in all the scenes.But a few scenes of many heroes in some of their films,will fill the bill.Comedy is the most important ingredient of cinema.Like heroes,comedians do not impress the audience in all the scenes of any film they do.Some scenes hilariously outlive their times.Malayalam cinema has clebrated names like Jagadhy Sreekumar, Innocent,villain-cum-comedian Cochin Haneefa,Suraj Venjaara moodu,Harisree Ashokan,Indrans and Mammukkoya.Of these Mammukkoya who is no more today, belongs to a special class of comedian.

  Of the 400 plus films he has acted I would have seen about fifty films,mostly as a supporting actor with an inherent tinge of comedy.His front upper teeth would always outshine his face and look-wise, he was always the truest Malayalee with a profile that would give a clean chit for his Kerala mark.He had a suppressed voice mould,with which he would deliver dialogues with his own beautifully measured timings. Stress,intonation and clarity of the Malayalam tongue,were beautifully churned like lassi and delivered to the audience as a sweet delight. 

  Sobriety-mixed comedy can not that easily get into to the minds of the audience and make them distinguish the layers of humour,sandwiched between serious words.It is in this capacity, Mammukkoya created unique records.His thin body frame,bald head with scattered sparse hair,his formidable nose and never hidden upper teeth,were his uneviable physical features,generating enviable comedy moments.

 I also saw him in two Tamil films Arangetra Velai and Cobra.Cinema is getting dried up of its multifarious talents.Mammukkoya's passing away is yet another tragic blow on the Malayalam comedy throw.No doubt,he is an actor to be remembered and cherished as a special chapter in the book  of Malayalam cinema.He received the best comedian award from the Kerala state for the film Innathe Chindha Vishayam and the Jury mention for the film Perumazhakalam. Mammukkoya had also acted in a French film entitled 'Flammen im Paradies'

  Before I conclude,timely thanks to the remarkable views of Mr.P.K.AjithKumar found in the news column of  The Hindu {The Hindu dated 27th April 2023} about this esteemed actor that personally motivated me to think more of him and frame his profile in this blog.