Mammootty pretends his arrogance to escape from people : Maniyanpilla Raju

Mammootty, even after being the reigning superstar of Mollywood for nearly three decades has often been criticised for his so called arrogant attitude. There is a general perception about Mammootty being an arrogant and pompous person. Several of his co-stars and directors have admitted that, Mammootty is a forthright person who always speaks his mind and is not one who minces his words about something he feels wrong.

One of his closest friend and colleague, Maniyanpilla Raju in a recent interview also reiterated the same. Mammootty and Maniyanpilla Raju first worked together for legendary filmmaker Padmarajan’s Koodevide in 1983.

There was a general talk in the industry that Mammootty is an arrogant and contemptuous person. However, Maniyanpilla Raju while working with him realized that Mammootty is pretending to be arrogant to escape from people just like how a porcupine does by shedding it’s quills.

Mammootty himself has publicly admitted that his arrogance is like a preventive measure to protect himself from others. Recently, during an interaction section with fans in Sharjah, someone asked Mammootty about why he is not being social like Mohanlal and about his arrogant attitude. The actor retorted back with a tongue in cheek question “who should change that conception, me or the public?”

Mammootty has always maintained that he is an actor only while on screen. He finds it very difficult to greet and smile at a person, even if it’s a fan, whom he is meeting for the first time.