A lawyer by qualification, Mammootty had always wanted to be an actor. He made his first appearance on the big screen in a Malayalam movie 'Devalokam' (1979) but that film apparently never saw light. On record Mammootty's career began with the Malayalam cinema 'Vilkanundu Swapnangal' (1980) in which his performance was noticed. It was Director K.G. George who brought out the latent talent in Mammootty. He gave him a number of diverse roles in films like 'Valarthumrigangal', 'Yavanika', 'Aadaminte Vaariyellu' etc. His firebrand performances in these films saw the birth of a new super star in Malayalam Cinema. 

 He was supported by good directors, scriptwriters like Adoor Gopalakrishnan, M.T.Vasudevan Nair, Lohitadas, Hariharan, Padmarajan etc in his acting career. His controlled acting, never crossed the limits, and the presentation of M T 's hard hitting dialogues made Mammootty, the heartthrob of Malayalam film viewers. 

 Throughout his career, he has been through a lot of ups and downs but every time he came back with extra perseverance and won his way into  people's hearts with wonderful performances. His career saw a spectacular rise after the release of  Director Joshi's 'New Delhi'. It heralded the rebirth of Mammootty the super star and he never had to look back again.

 Mammootty touched higher pinnacles of his career in the 90's with 'Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha', an M.T. Vasudevan creation and the breath taking portrayal of Basheer in Adoor Gopalakrishnan's art movie 'Mathilukal', which together bagged him the National award for the best actor in 1989. Again his superb acting in  T.V.Chandran's ' Ponthan Mada' and Adoor Gopalakrishna's 'Vidheyan' (1992) won him the National award for best actor once more. His portrayal of the historical character in  Jabbar Patel's 'Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar' (1999) won him the national award for the third time.

Throughout his acting career spanning three decades, Mammootty, has given the audience unforgettable performances in movies like 'Thaniavarthanam', 'Sukrutham', 'Yathra', 'Kanamarayathu', 'Nirakottu', 'Midhya', 'Oru CBI Dairy Kurippu', 'Hitler', 'Vidheyan', 'Mrigaya', 'Amaram', 'Valsalyam', 'Bhoothakkannadi', 'Kazcha' etc.  

He is very popular in Tamil, Telegu, and Hindi movies too. His famous films in other languages are 'Kandu Kondein Kandu Kondein', 'Aanandam', 'Kilipechu Kelkeva', 'Dalapati' (Tamil), 'Swati Kiranam' (Telegu), 'Dr.Ambedkar', 'Dhartiputra' (Hindi) etc.

  His  films such as 'Chronic Bacherlor' 'Thommanum Makkalum', 'Rajamanikkam', Annan Thambi, Thurupugulan etc with his excellent comic timing has proved that he can act comedy roles perfectly as well. Mammootty still retains his superstardom among the young talents of the times and remains one of the busiest actors in Malayalam cinema.