Mammootty is an award winning Indian film actor and producer. During a career spanning more than quarter of a century, he has acted in more than 300 films as the lead actor in Malayalam movies, a distinction he shares with Prem Nazir. Mammootty is considered by many critics to be one of the finest actors in Indian cinema who excels in both art and commercial films.

Mammootty received many major awards for his performance. These include three National awards, four State awards and eight Filmfare Awards in the best actor category. He is the only actor apart from Kamal Haasan to win National Film Award for Best Actor three times. In 1998, the Government of India honored him with Padma Shri for his outstanding contributions to Indian cinema and the University of Kerala honored him by giving honorary Doctorate in 2008.