Mamukkoya (1946-2023) | Five decades of laughter

Mamukkoya
| Photo Credit: VIBHU H

Mamukkoya, one of Malayalam cinema’s finest and most popular comedians of all time, died of cardiac arrest at a private hospital in Kozhikode on Wednesday. He was 76.

On Monday, he had collapsed during a football tournament at Kalikavu in Malappuram district. Trauma care volunteers had offered him first aid, and rushed him to a hospital at Wandoor. He was later shifted to the private hospital in Kozhikode where he breathed his last.

Five decades of laughter

In a long career spanning over five decades, he appeared in about 400 films, in most of which he played comic characters that spoke in his unmistakable Kozhikodan slang. Though he had made his debut in the 1979 film Anyarude Bhoomi, it was a few years later that he rose to stardom, with his superb performances in films like Doore Doore Oru Koodu Koottam, Gandhinagar 2nd Street, Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam and Nadodikkattu.

In Nadodikkattu, his portrayal of Gafoor, the small-time conman who puts two unemployed youths played by Mohanlal and Sreenivasan on a boat to Chennai after making them believe it was actually Dubai, was brilliant and it made him hugely popular. The film went on to earn a reputation as one of the greatest comedies ever in Malayalam cinema. The role may have been small, but it became as iconic as the main characters in the film – Dasan and Vijayan.

Mamukkoya soon established himself as one of those dependable and hugely talented character actors of Malayalam cinema. He featured in several memorable films made in the 1980s and 90s, the golden period of Malayalam cinema.

An accomplished character actor

Though he had been typecast as the funny man from Malabar, in films like Perumazhakkalam, he showed his range as an actor. In that moving drama directed by Kamal, he portrayed an unfortunate old man with finesse and earned a special mention for his performance at the Kerala State Film Awards.

His most recent film is Sulaikha Manzil.