Thirty years after Azhakiya Ravanan, director Kamal has explained why he wanted Mammootty, and not Mohanlal, to play the film's hero, Shankar Das. He said the role felt fresh only because Mammootty played it.
Why Mammootty
Shankar Das is a rich, boastful man who thinks he is better than everyone else. Kamal described him as a suffering millionaire. Kamal said that, at the time, people had built a similar image around Mammootty. He called that image wrong and said Mammootty is, in reality, a very genuine person.
That was the point of the casting. If Mohanlal had played the character, Kamal said, there would have been nothing new in it. It felt fresh because Mammootty did it.
The producer's doubt
When the story was first narrated to the producer, Kamal recalled, the producer asked whether Mohanlal would not be a better fit. Many people at the time, he said, found it hard to imagine Mammootty in such a role.
Casting against type, 30 years on
Azhakiya Ravanan (1996) was written by Sreenivasan, who also played the tailor-turned-writer Ambujakshan. That character later got his own film. In Chirakodinja Kinavukal (2015), a spoof directed by Santhosh Viswanath, Sreenivasan returned as Ambujakshan, still trying to sell his old love story, with Kunchacko Boban in the lead.
Kamal's comments are about one role and one moment, not a verdict on either actor. What stands out is the logic. Thirty years ago, he cast a star partly because the role played on how the public saw him.
Also read: Jayasurya meets Mammootty at a dubbing studio, calls him 'Snehamulla Simham' after the 1986 film
