Mamukoya: The actor Kerala loved for never taking Kozhikode out of him

Mamukoya is one of the last actors from the Kozhikodan art group, once part of Malayalam cinema.

On hearing that Malayalam actor and ace comedian Mamukoya passed away, a close friend wrote about meeting Mamukoya as a child three decades ago. My friend was attending a dress rehearsal of a drama and Mamukoya was there. When introduced to Mamukoya, the actor got him a packet of peanuts but for my friend it felt like he had received an award from the actor.

Another person on Instagram recounted meeting Mamukoya at a Kozhikodan wedding and how he was making fun of the bride and groom like any other common man. Mamukoya was just that. The humble Kozhikodan native of that generation, who will go out of the way to help a fellow being. He was one amongst us.

From A City Of Artists

Mamukoya is one of the last actors from the Kozhikodan art group, once part of Malayalam cinema. Kozhikode (Calicut) in North Kerala was blessed to be the home of a large group of talented artists and writers in Kerala society from the 1950s onwards. Writers like SK Pottekkad, Vaikom Muhammed Basheer, MT Vasudevan Nair, and Thikkodiyan flourished here. Artists like KP Ummer, Vincent, Balan K Nair, MS Baburaj, T Damodaran Master, IV Sasi, and Kuthiravattom Pappu took Kozhikode’s name across Kerala with their electrifying performances.

It was onto this stage that Mamukoya entered from Kallayi, where he was working in a timber yard. Kallayi at that time was famous for timber mills and many of the labourers were part of small drama troupes. Mamukoya was friends with writer Basheer, who recommended him to a director of one of his earliest movies. But it required another man from Malabar to get him a meaty role. That was Sreenivasan, the actor-screenwriter-director and a powerhouse of talent, who recommended Mamukoya to director Sathyan Anthikkad for his next movie Gandhinagar Second Street.

The Gift From Malabar

But his big break came as Gafoorkka in Nadodikattu who tricks Dasan (Mohanlal) and Vijayan (Sreenivasan) into believing that his dhow is actually going to California, and is changing its course via Dubai waters just to get them to the Gulf illegally. He tells them that they will have to swim about one furlong and should have Arab dresses ready, to be worn on reaching the shore, as no cop will detain Arabs. Gafoor teaches them basic Arabic like As-Salaam-Alaikum and Wa-Alaikkum-Salaam and for any other questions to just reply  - “Gafoor ka Dost, Gafoor ka Dost”. Unknown to them, his dhow drops them at Madras near Besant Nagar beach. Though a cheat in the movie, Kerala embraced the man and his role, which is remembered even today.

In Sandesham (1991), Mamukoya played a local committee president of the “INSP party”. When a national leader of the party, Yashwant Sahai (played by Innocent), visits the village there is confusion as no one understands Hindi. When Sahai motions with his thumb that he needs to drink as he is thirsty, Mamukoya asks Innocent: “Kya Madyapaan Hai? Half Bottle, kya Full Bottle”.

His Beeran in Chandralekha (1999), Hamsakoya in Ramji Rao Speaking (1989), PCP in Peruvannapurathe Viseshangal (1989), Keeleri Achu in Kankettu (1991), and Ahamed Kutty in Kouthuka Varthakal (1990) are some of his other notable roles, usually bringing the whole of Kozhikode into those movies and people loved him for it.

As a man who would speak mostly the Malabar slang of Malayalam, he can only say “Maanda” in His Highness Abdulla (1990) instead of the usual “Venda” (No need), when he goes to the royal palace. Or when he becomes a Maharshi in a play in Manthramothiram (1997), he can only speak the Malabar slang and not the dramatic dialect used in devotional dramas.

Seeing Him Differently 

Sathyan Anthikkad writes in his book Sathyan Anthikkad’s Grameenar that Mamukoya, along with Sreenivasan, started the revolt against glamour in Malayalam movies. With his smile that showed all of his front teeth, bald head, and the Malabarian slang, he told us that glamour is not needed to be a great actor.

At this same time, he would also do roles like Abdu in Perumazhakkalam (2004) who is a grieving father-in-law begging for mercy for his son-in-law on death row. Then came a noteworthy part as the father of a Muslim man accused of terrorism in Mappila Lahala’s popular song Native Bappa.

With the advent of the internet and social media, new impressions and versions of Mamukoya are being constantly produced. Compilations of movie characters, in which he provides tit-for-tat replies on YouTube, are still a rage.

Adieu Gafoorka! Kozhikode will weep for you, but tomorrow we will have the thug replies ready and claim that we are all Gafoor ka Dost. We indeed are.

Dhanush Gopinath is a movie buff, who at daytime is checking in code as the Co-founder and CTO at Geektrust.com, while reading away to glory at night. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.