mammootty in august 15

Malayalam superstar Mammootty compares himself to a "hard working farmer" who just cares about his work and hopes for the best.

"I am like a farmer. A farmer always works hard in his field and his only prayer is that his crop should be a bumper one. Similarly, I always put in my very best and then wait hopefully like the farmer," Mammootty told IANS in an interview on the sets of his latest movie August 15.

The film is being shot at the plush Technopark campus here.

"The success of a film is always a combination of many people's efforts. I believe in the theory that one cannot make a good film, it just happens," Mammootty said.

"I honestly don't feel any greatness at all. It is just simple and that is because I do work really hard," he said.

Mammootty also said he was very careful about choosing his films.

"A good deal of my effort goes into the selection of films because these things cannot be just predicted; so I am careful about the movies I finally do. Next year too I will have four or five films where I play different roles," he said.

Asked about a hospital project in Bangalore he is reportedly part of, Mammootty said: "I am not into the project. My son and daughter are into a boutique hospital, Motherhood, in Bangalore, which will soon open. I have no role in that."

He said his business interests include a distribution company called Playhouse, and he is hopeful of venturing into film production next year.

"Hopefully it (production) should happen next year. It would not just be limited to my films," he said.

Does he have plans to direct as well?

"Right now, I know one job, with which I am fine," he said, smiling.

The superstar, who turned 57 last month, was dismissive of reported problems in the Malayalam film industry.

"Tell me one industry where there are no problems. Whatever problems are there are similar to the problems faced elsewhere," he said.

Speaking about his role in "August 15", he said it was based on the film "August 1", which released 22 years ago.

"I play Perumal, a police officer, and the film is an investigative thriller. Repeating a character makes it easy because in the new film, this character need not be introduced again. This film has a totally different script," he said.

So what does the veteran of three decades feel about working with heroines much younger to him?

"Thank you very much," he said, ducking the question. "Our interview is over and we are breaking for lunch!
The movie which will have the police character of the original ‘Perumal’ in the lead and will have Mammootty once again in police uniform. Titled as ‘August 15’, the movie will be shot at the capital city. It is after a long time that Mammootty will be shooting for an entire movie at Thiruvananthapuram.

Megastar Mammootty has started shooting for his new suspense thriller 'August 15' at the capital city. The superstar, who is shooting for an entire movie in Thiruvananthapuram after a gap of almost a decade, was seen in the plush green backdrops of the Technopark.

The movie will have him as an investigative officer named Perumal, the character that he had been in the nineties hit 'August 1'. Produced by Aroma Mani in the banner of Sunitha productions, the movie will be directed by Shaji Kailash in the scripts of S N Swamy. This time too, Mammootty's character who is an Superintendent of Police will come up to save the State’s Chief Minister from a possible murder attempt. Nedumudi Venu will appear as the C M in the new movie.