film stars in real life ---Seema to Mammootty

Have  you ever  thought  why  we  ,yes,  you and me included  admire  filmstars  .  Now dont tell me  no  ...  There  are many  reasons  for  one  they  are famous  .  Even  the  most  bankrupt filmstar  is famous or had been famous  and  whether we like  it or not  human beings  like to be famous  .. and another  is  they are  rich  .. But  most  importantly  we  often identify  with  their  characters  and vicariously  we  admire them  for  living those characters through their  onscreen persona  . ...
                            An ardent  lover  of malayalam and  hollywood  movies i cherish  some moments  when  i have seen some  of  the  filmstars  in real  life   ..... For  those  malayalees who  have seen  sreenivasan  in the film  nadodikkattu  where  he  is stunned when filmstar  Seema  opens  the door  where  he tells  her  that  he has  seen her  film  10  times and then asks where is "Sasiettan"    the following  account may ring  a bell  .

  i  too  was  a  mini  sreenivasan  during  a  recent flight  were  we were  co passengers  .  Only difference   i didnt ask her  anything  but  just  looked  at her  and  remembered  the times  when  she was  the  heartthrob  of the youngsters in kerala in the 1980s  .   I still  remember  the  poster  of  "Angadi  ---the market  "  in which she was the heroine  in our  small  town  perumbavoor  in kerala  .  I was  a  schoolboy    then  . ..  My mind  raced  through  the characters  she  played  including  the  film avalude raavugal  which  i appreciated more for its  plot  and theme  and her acting  ....  Then  the  multiple films where she starred  opposite  my childhood  hero Jayan  ...who was the first action hero of  malayalam movie  ... and no action movie  is complete without the  beautiful heroine  .. hero needs  someone to save  from the  villain  ..

                                                                             Then  there  was  Jayabharathi  whom i  saw  in real  life before  i saw her  movies  ... She  happens to be  a  distant  relative  of  mine .  That  happened  when  i visited  trivandrum  in kerala when i  was  6  years old  .  One day my  aunt took  me to a  film shooting venue  not to  see the shooting  but to see her sister in law  who  was  an accomplished actress  in that  time  . At that  age  i  just gave a casual glance at her as i was more interested  in the spears , swords and the film  set  ...  She was acting  in a  movie  which  involved  kings and queens  ....  Later  i remembered  a  bewildered  me and  my sister  seeing  our family house  courtyard  flooded  with  admirers  when she visited  our  perumbavoor house  many  years later  ....She  was one  of  the  actresses  who has starred  opposite  the  evergreen malayalam  actor  prem nazir  who has the  world record  of  acting  with  maximum number of heroines  (80   lucky man  )   ..jayabharathi included

                                                                   A  few  years  back  i  went  to  visit   a leading hospital  in mumbai as  part of my  official work   which caters exclusively to VIPs..   There  the whos who  of the industrialists of india  come regularly  and  no one gives any  particular  notice  ....  But  one day  on my visit  there  i  saw  many people  standing with  folded hands while  a  person was  coming  in a wheelchair  ..  I  was  thinking  who  this  VVIP was  who  got  the  respect  where big industrialists are like ordinary folk . My  eyes found the answer  in  ...  Chaahe  mujhe  janglee kahe  .....  Yahooo......... Yes the great  Shammi  Kapoor  whom  i used  to  see everytime  dad  switches on TV in doordarshan  where  the heroine used  to run around  the  tree  with our hero  doing  all the antics  and runninga round too  ....  He  was in his  70 s  to  80 s  ...... with  a beard  .... age had  taken a toll  but still  the  pleasant face  inspite  of his  illness  ...

Last  but  not the  least  Mammootty  i  met  during a  new  year  when we i was studying  for predegree  in trivandrum  .  My  friends and myself were in the  rooftop  and  towards 11 pm  people told  that  mammootty  was staying in the hotel  and  was coming in  after  some  program outside along with some actors like lalu alex  .   ... We  went down  we  seven  of us  ... and being  new year  and  pack  courage  (are we wolves  ??)   we wished  all the  film actors  happy new year  by shaking hands  ...  All  the  actors shook   hands  and we chatted with them  and  lalu alex even  told us  he  had felt bad  during  a period when he had no films  ...  Then  suddenly  mammootty arrived  ..  megastar  of malayalam  movie.  He  kept walking  with  folded hands  and we as a group  went with  open hands  to shake  his hands  ...  But  superstar  wont  give shakehand  .. he smiled   ....however  .. suddenly  one  of  our  alpha males  (remember we were  wolf pack  )  told in  a  loud  voice  ...  Oru  superstar  okke alle  ... Onnu  kai  koduthu koode   ..  ((  mallu style  ... ,meaning  ...  You are  a   superstar  why  dont  u  give us  a  shakehand  )    .   I  expected  an angry  mammootty  ..  But  he  replied  why not  and  gave  us all  a  shakehand   ....  What  if  he  became  angry  that  day  ? Would  he  have  become  one of the  characters  in the  movies  and  killed all of us  ??   Impossible,  for  no actor  can kill  a fan  ...  me  included  ...