Annan Thampi

Thiruvananthapuram, May 4 (IANS) Malayalam superstar Mammootty
continues to be a crowd puller and his latest release "Annan Thampi"
proves it once again. The film has already grossed an impressive Rs.30
million in a mere 17 days.

"This is because of sheer hard work and I am getting the returns for
it," Mammootty told IANS.

"Annan Thampi" is a complete entertainer with Mammootty playing a
double role. The 50-plus star also attributed the movie's success to
the fact that it was released even in small towns and cities.

"This has become one of the largest releases in 75 centres in the
state. This is turning out to be a new trend in the industry and now
enables even small towns to get to see a new film. This will cause a
dent in the piracy market because people watch latest films in the
theatre itself," Mammootty said.

Mammootty has hit a hat-trick with "Annan Thampi". His last two
releases also turned out to be huge grossers - Renji Panicker's
"Roudram" and "Katha Parayambol", where the actor plays a cameo.

Mammootty, who has over 300 films to his credit, says he works hard to
keep fit at his age. The star hurt his back while shooting for a film
a few days ago.

"I am ok now but the pain is still there. This is nothing but an
occupational hazard," he quipped.

Age seems to be no bar for the star as offers keep pouring in. He said
he has about three-four films currently in his kitty.

"I will be travelling to Tamil Nadu for a Tamil-Malayalam bilingual
film. (Tamil actor) Arjun is acting with me. The film will be titled
'Vande Matharam' in Malayalam and in Tamil it will be 'Koithu'.

"Then I have "Parunthu", where I play the role of a money lender
having a "Shylock mentality". I'm also doing 'Twenty-Twenty' ,"
Mammootty said.

But the movie he is eagerly awaiting is "Pazhassi Raja", where he
plays the title role of the 18th century king who fought the British
in the jungles of Wayanad in Kerala. The magnum opus is being directed
by Hariharan and noted litterateur M.T. Vasudevan Nair has written the
screenplay.

"I am really excited about it. The film is expected to be released
late this year," he added.