Mammootty continues box office reign with 'Annan Thampi'

May 4, 2008 Sanu George

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.

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Annan Thambi