Mammootty's Abraham Ozler Act Puts The Spotlight On Other Impressive Cameos

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AN HOUR INTO Midhun Manuel’s Jayaram-starring murder mystery Abraham Ozler, the identity of the serial killer is about to be unveiled. It’s also the finest moment in the otherwise inertly paced film — a superb synchronisation of background music, choreography, and the impending entry. In hindsight, it is also counterproductive to the plot. Simply because when Mammootty (with long, tousled hair) strolls into the frame, the first emotion you feel is pure hysteria. Not, however, of the kind reserved for a murderer who is about to butcher his next victim — this frenzy is for the megastar’s much-anticipated entry. While the character is shorn of swag or glory, the tremendous screen presence of the actor alone ensures the thunderous applause from the audience. 

Serial killer Alexander, who is grappling with a traumatic past, is hardly a challenge for Mammootty; but the star pulls off the impossible: he rescues a middling narrative from plunging into further mediocrity with merely a 20-minute cameo. Although the actor has to utter awkwardly bombastic lines, he keeps us riveted to the screen.

A few years ago a similar cameo turned out to be the only saving grace in period film Kayamkulam Kochunni (2018). When Mohanlal makes an entry on a horseback as the folklore warrior Ithikkara Pakki, he is literally and metaphorically rescuing the battered Kayamkulam Kochunni (and the film) from being bludgeoned. Pakki is a legendary thief who mentors Kochunni to better his robbery skills. Mohanlal with a twinkle in his eye and a vintage makeover was at his flamboyant best; the film roused at his entry and collapsed at his exit.

Then there are those special appearances that leave you shaken. It can be a startling monologue that touches the deepest corner of your heart, a tender act of letting go, or a picture of compassion and joy. These are sublime moments that restore your faith in humanity. Like how Mammootty’s Superstar Ashok Raj sprinkled magic dust over the life of his buddy Balan who has been living a hand-to-mouth existence, with a thoughtful soliloquy, stringing together their childhood memories, leaving the audience moist-eyed, in Kadha Parayumbol. To bring Mammootty on board, who can gut you with just a crack in his baritone, to deliver such a poignant moment was indeed a stroke of genius.

In Padmarajan’s Innale, it’s a cameo that tugs at your heartstrings. In the final act, when Dr Narendran (Suresh Gopi) comes in search of his missing wife, clutching their moments of togetherness as proof in front of another man, we know that he has already recognised the truth. Even when she shows no signs of recognition, Narendran could still lawfully stake his claim over his wife and perhaps wait for her recovery. Instead, he sits there, silently broken, and does the most selfless thing — he decides to let her go. Perhaps he knows that dragging her into a life she doesn’t recall, even to prove his love, could be devastating for her. When a brilliantly restrained Suresh Gopi walks out, he is also plainly walking away with the film.

Meanwhile, in Parava, Dulquer Salman’s Imran — a character present for a brief period — is the most gratifying memory in the film. An orphan, he is an essential part of all the households in that small town. They love him as their own and Imran can only spread cheer and unconditional love around him. Understandably, when tragedy befalls him, something dies inside us.

In Action Hero Biju, when Pavithran rushes to the police station, desperately in search of his missing wife and daughter, he is a man teetering on the brink of insanity. But when he realises that no one was his, including the daughter he loved most in the world, he doesn’t quite know how to process the devastation. In that clinically executed police procedural, Suraj Venjaramoodu creates a moment of such poignancy that it also paradoxically gave a fresh lease of life to his career.

At times a cameo can waft into a frame like the aroma of freshly baked bread. That’s precisely how one can define Mumbai-based self-proclaimed don Damodarji’s entry in Sanmanasullavarkku Samadhanam. Sure, he looks formidable, which is further accentuated by his glares and barks towards Gopalakrishnan (Mohanlal), who is already feeling the heat. But then we know he is just a lamb in a wolf’s skin. Thilakan, who can stop you in your tracks with just a stare and heavy baritone, hits it out of the park as this genial don who loves offering riotously empty threats in his heavily accented Hindi.

Just when you think all is well in the universe, a sleek blue Merc enters the dusty roads of Peruvannapuram (in Peruvannapurathe Visheshangal), carrying a man and his mother. The young lovers of the story are about to unite but they have to face this pair who have a humiliating history with the town. However, Achu (a charming Mohanlal) turns out to be the cupid who eventually brings them together. It’s a cameo that instantly wins your heart.