‘Was Mammootty's cameo wasted?’ ‘Law & Order’ actor Shanood Ebrahim answers

When news broke that Mammootty's ‘Karikkamuri Shanmughan’, the character from the 2004 film ‘Black’, would return in ‘Law & Order’, fans took it as a comeback. Early buzz went further, with many talking about the film as if it were a second part of ‘Black’.

We asked Shanood Ebrahim, who plays Sub-Inspector Firoz Mohammadkutty, whether that promise was kept. Was the cameo wasted?

"Should I speak truthfully?" he laughed, before answering. "Mammookka's character is not wasted, because Mammookka is Mammookka always. He is a legend of Malayalam cinema." Even a "5-second or 10-second appearance," he said, would be "a great treat" for fans of the character.

"You will forget about Karikkamuri Shanmughan"

The more telling part of his answer was about how the film connects to ‘Black’. Shanood says that apart from the cameo and mentioning of two relatives of characters from the earlier film, "this movie has no connection with that movie at all."

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His advice to audiences was direct, "When you see the movie, you will forget about Karikkamuri Shanmughan. You will be in this movie with the other characters, you will live with it." He added that the character is mentioned right at the beginning, so viewers aren't left "waiting around wondering when Karikkamuri Shanmughan will show up."

That raises an uncomfortable question. If the film has almost no story link to Black, did the Mammootty connection bring people to theatres under a promise the film never intended to keep?

Shanood doesn't say so. But the gap between the early ‘second part’ talk and his own description of the film is worth noticing.

The title he wanted was Grey

Shanood also revealed something he says he hadn't discussed with anyone. When the title talk began, he privately felt the film should be called ‘Grey.’ His reasoning, everyone in the story sits in a moral grey area. "Even if it's a villain, he's a nice guy in his family and to his friends... Even if it's a police officer, we are doing little grey, bad things as well in this movie... We are acting against the law in this movie too."

He added that he was happy with ‘Law & Order’ once it became "L&O.," but "in my mind, this movie is always Grey."

The fan behind the actor

Years before acting, he met the star, Mammootty in a Dubai hotel room, so overwhelmed that he "couldn't even utter a sound." He wanted to tell him he dreamed of becoming an actor and couldn't. The selfie Mammootty took himself remains one of his most treasured photos.

Years later, he shared a frame with him. "Maybe God heard it back then," he said. "God might have decided, 'You don't need to say it now; even without you saying it, I will bring you into this movie.'" Even his character's name, Firoz Mohammadkutty, carries a nod to the star, and he joked about calling himself "Firoz Mammootty."

Don't judge by the trailer

Shanood also pushed back on the criticism of the film's look, especially the colour grading. He says the teaser and trailer were not fully colour-graded (the "DI," or digital intermediate, stage).

"When it comes to the movie, the coloring was good," he said, adding that reviewers may be judging the film by promos and not by the film. "There are movies where the trailer is good but the movie turns out bad. There are movies where the trailer is bad but the movie turns out good."

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Yet, the question still left behind is, was the ‘Karikkamuri Shanmughan’ cameo a loving tribute, or a marketing hook?