Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 7 (IANS): The never ending journey of an actor, billed as one of the best in the country, continues, with Mammootty -- the upcoming 'legend' in the Malayalam cinema -- enters the golden jubilee as he turns 69 on Monday.

By now, he has donned the grease paint in close to 500 films and that too not just in Malayalam and other South Indian languages, but also in English and Hindi.

Incidentally, it was in 1971, the present-day Mammootty and 'Mammooka' to all, whose official name is Mohammed Kutty, donned the grease paint for the first time in the film of one of yesteryear's hugely popular actor Sathyan, "Anubhavangal Paalichakal".

Though limited to just a single scene, without a dialogue, sharing the screen space with Sathyan, the then Mohammed Kutty has by now walked into the hearts of all in the Malayalam film industry and even sidestepped his contemporary Mohanlal to become the first superstar in the Malayalam film industry.

And since then the saga of Mammootty has had a glorious and uninterrupted run as no one has been able to push him down to the second spot, even as his film career is entering the golden jubilee.

Even though the now two superstars -- Mammootty and Mohanlal -- are poles apart in all what they do, contrary to what is seen in the film industry in other languages, the two are able to co-exist with mutual respect.

The single biggest difference between the two is while Mammootty acts, Mohanlal is a naturally gifted actor, and yet, the former scores because in the make-believe world of films, to give life to a character by acting is a bit more tough and complicated, as the film experts say.

And it's that which has put him in an unassailable position, as his records say.

Mammootty's record in the film world is awesome as he has been decorated with three national film, seven Kerala state film, and 13 Filmfare awards in his career, which has completed five decades.

Now settled in Kochi, Mammootty is also seeing his son Dulqar Salman upgrade his acting skills, which has won him accolades not just in Malayalam, but in other south Indian languages too, which too, this great actor can be certainly proud.

With the coronavirus pandemic striking hard, Mammootty though confined to his home, far away from the hustle and bustle of the shooting sets, ensured his fitness.

And now with the corona protocol getting eased, his fans can now look forward, as a few of his films are expected to hit the screens soon, while a few will begin to roll forward in the shooting locations.