5 min readKochiUpdated: Mar 30, 2026 06:28 PM IST Actors donning the director’s hat isn’t a recent phenomenon in Indian cinema. From Guru Dutt, Raj Kapoor, Aparna Sen, Kamal Haasan, and Revathy to Aamir Khan, Nandita Das, Konkona Sen Sharma, Ajay Devgn, Seema Pahwa, Farhan Akhtar, Naseeruddin Shah, and R Madhavan, the list is long. The scene is no different in the Malayalam film industry either, where noted actors like Sheela, Madhu, Pratap Pothen, Sreenivasan, Venu Nagavally, Cochin Haneefa, Madhupal, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Vineeth Sreenivasan and Mohanlal, among many others, have tried their hands at filmmaking. In fact, even Mammootty once considered becoming a director, though not solely because of his fascination with filmmaking. Before becoming the megastar he is today, there was a phase in Mammootty’s career when pretty much everyone, including him, was certain his days in the film industry were numbered. During the mid-1980s, his movies, including good ones, bombed one after another, to the point where most people concluded that he would only get supporting roles going forward — and that, too, …