Did Mammootty Actually Reject These 6 Blockbusters?

The film which shot Mohanlal’s career into Superstardom, guess who was it offered to first? Megastar Mammootty had rejected the Thambi Kannanthanam film before Mohanlal took up to playing the iconic character. The character of Vincent Gomes instantly propelled Mohanlal into being the ‘Superstar’. Dialogues, scenes of the film and even mannerisms of the actor is still mimicked.

This is one of the highest grossing Malayalam films of all time. Mammootty apparently didn’t actually reject the movie. When director Jeethu Joseph approached the Megastar, he was already working in similar projects. Citing that reason, he asked Jeethu to approach other actors and moreover discussed with him in detail about the movie’s casting. This was revealed by the director himself in an interview. Still, ‘’Drishyam’ would have made wonders to Mammootty’s career instead, the luck was in favour of Mohanlal.

A film which is considered to be one of the landmark films in India, ‘Iruvar’ had Mohanlal playing Anandam – a character loosely based on Tamil icon MG Ramachandran. The film was not a great success at the box-office but it is a masterpiece in all other senses. Well, Manirathnam had approached Mammootty for the role and the actor even did some screen and make-up tests. Unfortunately, much to the bad luck of his admirers, the casting didn’t materialise eventually, Mohanlal bagging the role.

Directed by Shaji Kailas and scripted by Ranji Panicker, ‘Ekalavyan’ had Suresh Gopi in the lead. The film was one of the biggest hits in the actor’s career and was instrumental in establishing him as the biggest star, kind of a ‘3rd Superstar’ after Mammootty and Mohanlal. The role was actually written by Ranji Panicker keeping Mammootty in mind but unfortunately the actor had turned it down.

The film is another Jeethu Joseph (‘Drishyam’ guy) thriller which had Prithviraj playing the tormented-drunk cop. ‘Memories’ was a huge success and the characterization of Prithvi’s role was widely appreciated. Mammootty, when he was approached for the role turned it down, saying that the character lacked ‘maturity’.

Director Joshiy finally had a hit after many years and that was ‘Run Baby Run’. Starring Mohanlal and Amala Paul, the film was a huge hit with Mohanlal’s rendition of ‘Attumanal’ track turning into a rage among fans. The film was initially offered to Megastar Mammootty but yeah, you know what happened.