Some well-known actors who grace the silver screen today had to work their way up in the industry with the label of “an uncredited extra”. Several others were way too young and their screen time too short for us to recognize them. Here’s a second follow-up to the list of lesser-known appearances of such popular Malayalam actors.
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Mammooty
If transformation had a middle name, then it is Mammooty! The biggest name in Malayalam cinema today had set out to make it big as early as 1971. Yes, exactly four decades ago! I found it quite hard to believe that the lean guy to the right of Bahadur, in this scene from the movie Anubhavangal Paalichakal, is our beloved superstar Mammooty. That’s the unlikeliest of places you’d expect him to be. And this scene, for sure, lacks a few kickass dialogues in his gambheeryamulla voice!
Anu Sithara
Best known for movies like Captain, Ramante Edanthottam and Oru Kuprasidha Payyan, Anu Sithara set out on her Mollywood adventure almost a decade ago. She had appeared in Sathyan Anthikad’s 2013 movie Oru Indian Pranayakadha as the younger version of the Thulasi, the character played by Lakshmi Gopalaswami.
Kochu Preman
If you took a while to digest Mammooty’s transformation, you might take longer for this one (actually not so much if you’ve been following the recent trolls). Kochu Preman, or Premkumar as he is widely known in his circle, used to be a freak machaan back in the ‘70s. His hairstyle and beard would give the present freakanmaars a run for their money. Oh, and in case you are wondering, this scene is from his first movie, Ezhunirangal.
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Soubin
What a versatile artistic journey it’s been for Soubin Shahir! Before being the household name that he is today, he’s literally been there and done it all – child artist roles, uncredited roles, assisting direction, direction and of course, mainstream acting. He can be spotted as a child artist in the movies Kabooliwala, Vietnam Colony and Pappayude Swantham Appoos. In this scene from Kaiyethum Doorathu, he can be seen (an absolute blink-it-and-miss-it) wearing a red tee and a red cap, deboarding a bus right behind Fafa.
P.S. I’m pretty sure most brief appearances of actors revolved around being co-passengers of the actor and deboarding buses.
Radhika
Who can forget this sweet yet mysterious girl from Classmates?! I’m sure you would also remember a host of Malayalam albums that were released in the early ‘00s that she had been a part of. What not many of you would recollect is that the movie Vietnam Colony kickstarted with the 8-year-old Radhika waking up and going about her daily routine. She essayed the role of Krishna Murthy (Mohanlal)’s niece in the movie.
Manikuttan
The Bigg Boss star was first spotted in the children’s film, Varnachirakukal which was released in 1999. He played the lead role in this movie and had even shared screen space alongside Suhasini Maniratnam. It was after this that he got his big break in the form of Kayamkulam Kochunni.
Fun fact: Did you know that Manikuttan’s real name was Thomas James?
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Balu Varghese
Before portraying Ambro in Honey Bee, Balu Varghese appeared in a host of movies as a child artist. He started his acting career with the Dileep starrer Chanthupottu where he played the young Kumaran (the adolescent version of Indrajith’s character). It wouldn’t take more than half a jiffy for you to recognize him in this scene!
Sai Kumar
If you trace the journey of Sai Kumar, it would turn out that Ramji Rao Speaking was not his first onscreen stint. Prior to lighting up the screen as the lead and supporting actor in various films, he landed a role in the movie Vidarunna Mottukal. As the movie name suggests, he was still a bud waiting to bloom into an adult. Even if we don’t tell you that it’s Sai Kumar in this scene here, his expressions would! Then a great actor, always a great actor.
Vishnu Unnikrishnan
“Aiyo, ithu nammde Hrithik Roshan alle?” This was the first thing that popped into my mind when I recently saw this scene from the movie Ente Veedu Appuvintem. Vishnu Unnikrishnan was a part of numerous movies as a child artist, and this was his debut. In this movie, he played the role of an inmate of the juvenile home whom Kalidas Jayaram’s character meets during his term of imprisonment.
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