oru interesting MSN article...dunno if posted bfore!
Duel of ANCIENTS!
A cheeky take on the Mohanlal-Mammootty battle
By Vishak Shakti
When the twin phenomenon of Mohanlal and Mammootty happened in the mid eighties, the much talked about ‘Golden Era’ of Malayalam cinema was hitting a crescendo. In Kerala, fanfare never had a history of touching manic levels like in other south Indian states. But yet both the stars managed to win themselves dedicated followings. Yet it was never a question of who you liked, but more a question of who you liked more.
With their rise came the talk of professional rivalry. During the few years before 1986, as newcomers they shared the screen in 44 films. They have done only four films together since. It may be mere economics at work. A producer can hardly afford both of them in a single film, unless he is a philanthropist. But the whole Mammootty-Mohanlal debate made for interesting coffee-time conversation, though the odd person is known to have taken it too seriously, breaking the odd glass or two at the odd booze party.
Mohanlal is generally known as the more versatile of the two actors. “Can Mammootty ever do comedy?” the Lal fan would ask. To this the Mammootty fan would start humming a tune from ‘Oru Vadakkan Veera Gadha’, a period drama where Mammootty’s genre defining portrayal of an ancient martial arts (Kalari) guru won him his first national award. The Lal fan would get the drift. “Alright, Lalettan might be little chubby for the role, but can Mammootty ever do a 'Kilukkam'? Can he match Lal ettan’s sense of rhythm? Can he ever even attempt dancing?” Visibly floored, the Mammootty fan would recover and place an envelope in the Lal fan’s hands. The Lal fan would open it to find the DVD of ‘Ambedkar’, the film which won Mammootty his third national award for best actor, thus going one up over Mohanlal’s national award tally of two. Having fired the last salvo, the Mammootty fan would rush off in a hurry, only to hear a miffed voice shout from behind “But Mohanlal has won a special jury award also!”
Many things have happened to the rest of India and the rest of the world since the mid-eighties. The Soviet Union is no more. IT happened. The world has now gone back to being flat, we are told. Economic reforms came to India. We even won an Olympic gold! Tsunami hit Asia, before hitting Wall Street. September 11 changed world politics. Saddam Hussein was hanged to death. Slobodan Milosevic spent five years in prison before succumbing to heart ailments. Global terror continues to plague humanity. The world is not the same place any more.
Mammootty’s ‘Mayabazaar’ and Mohanlal’s ‘Kurukshetra’ are set to release, this week. It is said to be the clash of the year. Movie buffs, deprived of a proper Onam gift from either of their superstars (appallingly for the first time in the last two decades, we hear) will relish this Ramzan.
We gather things haven’t changed much in this part of the world. All is quiet on the Kerala front.
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